


birds of a feather

by Iris_Duncan_72



Series: Requests [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angels, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, im v proud of this one lads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-03-14 17:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 44,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18952498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iris_Duncan_72/pseuds/Iris_Duncan_72
Summary: Felix makes a wish on a demigod.





	birds of a feather

**Author's Note:**

> _Fear no more the heat o' the sun_
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> _Nor the furious winters' rages;_
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> _Now thy worldly task hast done_
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> \- Loreena McKennitt, _Cymbeline_

Felix clutched his wish token tightly.

It didn’t matter that he’d been to the Wishing Festival for the past eight years and not been chosen; thousands of people came every time and only one person, one wish, was selected.  It was likely his very long life would be over before he was chosen by the Lady of Luck.  That did not matter, however.  He had no choice but to keep attending, keep trying, keep praying and hoping and _begging_ that one day the Lady would take his token.

So here he was for the ninth year in a row, one of hundreds squashed into the huge city square around the great white fountain in the centre.  He knew many, many more people would be filling the streets outside the square, all pressing forward.  Fortunately, one of Felix’s remaining powers allowed him to slip by mortals unnoticed, which was how he’d managed to get near the front without being trampled.

A blanketing hush fell over the crowd as a glow began to emanate from the fast-flowing water of the towering marble fountain.  Lanterns hanging from buildings around the square were dampened, blown out, covered, so that only the light of the stars and crescent moon and from the fountain could be seen.

Felix had seen the holy lights of the divine plane, the golden aura of deities in their most sacred forms – but even he felt a shiver of awe run down his spine as the Lady of Luck, the demigod of this immense city, formed out of the glowing water.  The demigod (sexless, despite the suggestion of their title) was some seven metres tall and shaped like a woman in rippling robes.  They hovered over the fountain for a moment, a magnificent original to the motionless marble replica below.

Then, in a ragged wave from the centre out, everyone in the square and outside it lifted their wish tokens, all of them fervently chanting their wish inside their head as the Lady surveyed them.  No-one knew by what method or rubric the Lady chose one wisher out of thousands, for the demigod rarely contacted the city except on the night of this festival.

Felix held his token up high and stared imploringly at the impassive Lady.  _Please_ , he whispered to them.  _Please, help me.  Send me home.  Return my wings to me.  Please._

Slowly, the Lady began to move, floating well above the heads of the crowd.  The demigod drifted back and forth, arms sweeping along at their sides like they were touching every silent wish.  They left the square, going down one of the packed main avenues and Felix’s heart sank, teetering on the edge of inevitable disappointment.

Then they returned and he had to firmly guard himself against the cruel tendrils of hope.  Some people here had been coming for decades and had not been chosen; what chance did he have?

The Lady zig-zagged closer and Felix’s throat constricted.  They had never been so close to him before and he had to narrow his eyes against the fierce glow.  The demigod paused almost directly over Felix and tilted their head down.  Felix felt his breathing stop when watery eyes crackling with energy immediately found his.  A shining hand the size of his head reached out and the Lady bent down.  The tip of their index finger touched Felix’s token and it took on the glow of the water.

 _Little angel, so far from home_ , an echoing voice rumbled through his head and Felix would have flinched if not for the Lady’s gaze keeping him pinned; it’d been a very long time since he’d last heard a deity speak.

Felix repressed the urge to cry at the painfully true words.  He hadn’t wept for his lost wings, his lost home in at least one hundred years and he wasn’t going to start again in front of this demigod.

 _You wish for help, for relief from your torment,_ the Lady continued.

 _Yes_ , he confirmed.

_I cannot return your wings, little angel, for they are beyond my reach –_

– Felix’s heart shattered –

– _but the rest I can do._

Breathless with shock, he had no chance to process the emotional blow he’d just been dealt as the demigod was not finished.

_I grant your wish, little angel._

The wish token in Felix’s fingers flared bright, burning hot for a split-second.  Then the Lady of Luck withdrew their hand, broke eye contact, and turned to serenely float back to the centre of the square.  Their glow increased tenfold as they hovered above the fountain’s statue, forcing everyone to duck their heads.  When the harsh light lessened and the crowd looked up again, the form of the demigod had vanished, leaving only the gentle waters of the fountain.

The closing hymn of the Wishing Festival started up and thousands of eyes – awestruck, envious, angry, curious – moved to him.  Felix barely noticed, caught up in his thoughts – _How will my wish be granted if it is beyond even the power of a demigod?_

The answer came to him sooner than he might have expected.

 

 

In the final hour before dawn, when the Festival had at last finished and the final stragglers had fallen into their beds or found an acceptable patch of grass to pass out on, Felix sat on the top of one of the many flat-roofed buildings down by the docks.  He was perched on the very edge of the stone house, kicking his bare heels against the wall, a faint breeze stirring his pale hair and loose cotton shirt.  He stared without truly seeing over the harbour at the little boats and the fishermen, the smooth ocean and the starlit sky, just beginning to lighten on the horizon.

Felix glanced down at his wish token, absently turning it over in his fingers.  The little silver disc had not changed since its encounter with the Lady of Luck.  Felix remained unsure of how his wish would manifest, given what the demigod had said, but he hung onto the token anyway – it was all he had left to remind him that, incredibly enough, his wish _had_ been heard.

_...but the rest I can do._

What did that _mean?_   All he wanted was to go home.  He’d been stuck on the mortal plane, alone, for so long now.  Even as a halfling (the term for the half-creature any being of divine origin became when their divinity was removed) he experienced the pain and gradual deterioration that came with protracted isolation.  After all, angels were not meant for solitude.  His immortality was taking an awfully long time to fade, however, meaning that at this rate he likely had another six centuries of life left, whether he wanted it or not.

And for all that he’d gotten himself into this mess by becoming too close with a mortal, Felix could no more blend in with human society than a swallow could fit in amongst sparrows.  Mortals were children of the firm earth and the blazing sun.  Angels were born of shining starlight and strong winds.

A long-dormant memory of flying at the top of the world, at one with the sky, surfaced in Felix’s mind and he shivered, the charms hanging from his ears tinkling.  Blinking hard, he closed his fingers around the token and lifted his gaze to the horizon again.  No tears fell – he’d had practise containing them.  At least, the ones on the outside; the quiet weeping locked away in his heart had not once ceased since his archangel had burned Felix’s wings away with holy fire.

About to berate himself for moping again, something flickered in the far distance and caught his attention.

He rubbed his eyes, narrowing them at two indistinct shapes approaching from over the sea.  There was no chance of mortals being able to see them but Felix almost thought he could make out –

The halfling’s mouth dropped open.

_Surely not._

He scrambled to his feet, as though that would help him see better, squinting at the horizon.  The wish token fell, forgotten, from his limp hand.

 _Surely,_ surely _not._

But as the shapes grew nearer, he saw that his first thoughts had been correct.

Angels.  Those were two _angels_.  Angels in mortal form, huge feathered wings sweeping above them.

Felix’s mouth was dry as dust, his heart a pounding drum in his head, and without meaning to, he lifted two fingers to press against the side of his neck.  He sought reassurance in the quickening beat of his pulse, confirmation that he hadn’t gone completely mad between one moment and the next.

The angels slowed as they flew over the docks and dived down to join him on the roof.  Felix remained rooted to the spot, his eyes wide as the newcomers caught their breath.  One angel was about his height, with midnight-blue wings, while the other was taller, his wings deep violet.  Both had the standard dark hair of a winged angel (Felix loathed his pale hair) and were beautiful to behold, their flight clothes simple and fitted, and the feathers of their wings possessing a healthy sheen.  Their faces flushed and their eyes glittered with the thrill that came of being airborne.

Only a few hours ago, Felix had stood strong beneath the weight of ten thousand stares.  Now, he nearly burst into tears at the gentle touch of two dark gazes.

The shorter angel spoke first, which Felix distantly recalled being proper, as the larger number of charms in his ears denoted his greater age and authority.

‘Halfling,’ he said, addressing Felix formally, his voice purest music to Felix’s ears.  ‘I am Minho and this Hyunjin.  We serve in the first flight-wing of the Archangel Hwasa.’

Felix’s breath stalled in his throat.  He did not know that archangel, but he knew the honour of being in the first flight-wing.

‘Have you a name by which we may call you?’ Minho asked, his tone without judgement, his posture lacking hostility.

Felix went to speak and coughed instead.  Colouring in embarrassment, he ducked his head and managed a quiet, ‘My name is Felix.’  He winced at how deep his voice was, further evidence of his long stay on this plane.

‘Felix,’ came a new voice.

He swiftly glanced up again to see the taller angel, Hyunjin, smiling sweetly at him and by the blessed light of the Morning Star, did he _have_ to look so beautiful?

‘We are here,’ Minho continued, ‘to bring you home.’

The air was knocked from Felix’s lungs and he swayed, dangerously close to collapsing.  ‘What?’ he asked in a very small voice, mind reeling.

There was no way, _no way_ –

The corners of Minho’s eyes crinkled slightly as he nodded.  ‘The process will take some time but we will not leave you until it is complete.’

‘How...’  Felix trailed off, unable to corral his thoughts into enough order that he might form a coherent question.

Luckily, the angels understood.

‘The archangel who burned your wings –’ he could not stop his full-body shudder, the memory an excruciating one – ‘has been judged by the seraphs and found wanting,’ Hyunjin said, eyes sparking with – anger?  For _Felix?_   ‘As a young angel who had committed no past offences, you should not have been punished so severely.  The seraphs have formally pardoned you.’

Felix’s knees gave out.  Just for a second, but it was enough for him to stagger, grabbing onto Hyunjin’s swiftly offered arm for stability.  He let go as soon as his balance steadied, despite his senses crying foul at the loss of tactile comfort.

‘They – they’ve pardoned me?’ Felix repeated in a whisper, disbelieving gaze flicking between Hyunjin and Minho.  ‘Will they return my wings?’

‘Ah...’  The two angels exchanged a brief look that made Felix’s stomach churn uncomfortable immediately and he struggled to swallow past his renewed fear.

Still standing by the halfling, Hyunjin hesitantly replied, ‘Felix...  Not even the seraphs can do that.  Nothing returns from divine fire.’

Felix barely choked back a cry of loss and his breathing quickened in panic.  ‘But – but how will I – how – if I don’t –’

‘Hush, Felix, hush,’ Hyunjin soothed, placing a gentle hand on Felix’s shoulder.  ‘There is no need to panic.’

‘I said that the process will take some time, no?’ Minho reminded the alarmed halfling gently.  ‘Your wings must grow again.’

Felix blinked rapidly as he stared in mute incomprehension at the older angel, unshed tears blurring his vision.

His touch delicate, Minho cupped Felix’s jaw with his fingertips.  ‘The seraphs gave your divinity to me to re-gift to you, little angel.’  He stepped in very close.  ‘Will you allow me to restore what is rightfully yours?’

Felix could feel the warmth radiating off both Hyunjin and Minho, which made it awfully difficult to think straight.  Not that he needed to, not for this.

‘Yes,’ he rasped, throat tight with emotion.

Minho smiled, lips curling up and the corners of his eyes crinkling again.  Without further ado, he leaned in and pressed a warm kiss to Felix’s lips, waiting for the halfling to respond before licking lightly at his upper lip, encouraging Felix to open his mouth.

One tentative hand coming up to rest on Minho’s shoulder, Felix parted his lips on a sigh, felt the elder’s grip on his chin tighten as his tongue delved inside.

And then –

And then –

– a taste of liquid starlight and golden fire in his mouth, and Felix stumbled backwards as a powerful thrill rushed through his whole body, knocking him to his hands and knees.  He panted, trembling like an errant feather in the wind as his angelic essence violently reconnected with him.

At last, he was whole again.

When the storm passed, it left a sense of utter satisfaction ingrained in Felix’s bones.  Every part of him thrummed with delight and the renewed tears he felt gathering in his eyes were ones of bittersweet joy.  He lifted his head and saw the two angels watching him with anticipation.

‘Thank you,’ he choked out.  ‘Thank you.’

Felix’s emotions would not be contained any longer and he rocked back on his heels, burying his face in his knees as he cried.  He did not expect soothing voices in his ears, gentle hands on his back, his head, his arms, but when they came, he accepted them with the desperation of a starving man.

With every sob that burst from him, every tear that slid down his cheek, Felix felt the weight on his shoulders grow lighter.  His grief had been with him, a terrible mantle, for some six hundred years.  Now, finally, he could release it and he was nearly delirious with the relief of doing so.

‘Breathe, Felix,’ Minho ordered, quiet but firm, when Felix’s sobs took on a ragged, gasping edge.  He cupped the side of the younger angel’s face, tilted it up so he could pin Felix with his powerful stare.  ‘Breathe.’

It took some minutes of Minho holding his gaze and Hyunjin stroking his back before Felix calmed.  Feeling a little embarrassed and distinctly vulnerable, the blond angel ducked his head as he roughly wiped the tears from him cheeks, still sniffling.  He was interrupted by Hyunjin, the taller angel braceleting Felix’s slim wrists and tugging them away from his face.

‘There is no shame here,’ Hyunjin told him, smiling that distressingly sweet smile of his again.  ‘You should be gentler with yourself,’ he scolded lightly, catching the rest of Felix’s tears with his long fingers.

Felix simply sat mute, simultaneously drained of and buzzing with energy.

‘How – how long will my wings take to regrow?’ he finally asked, voice rougher than ever.

‘Given the potency of your divinity and that we will be staying with you, no more than a decade,’ Minho answered, his lovely dark blue wings arching forward over his head so he didn’t sit on the primaries.

Felix winced.  In angelic terms, a decade was nothing, but gods above and below, every extra minute he had to wait before he could take to the skies again was a minute he’d never get back.  And he already had so many of those to make up for.  Still, it wouldn’t do to be ungrateful – if Minho and Hyunjin were to leave him now, Felix’s wings could take up to another hundred years.  Close contact with others of their kind was necessary for the wellbeing of even the seraphs.

‘Thank you,’ he mumbled, savouring the feeling of Hyunjin’s hand resting on his knee.  He wanted to ask for a hug but did not.  Instead, he steeled himself and asked, ‘How come – um, I mean, you’re both so high-ranking and I...’  Felix blinked at them both with his large brown eyes.  ‘Why are you staying with me?  Surely – surely you have more important –’

Quick as a striking snake, Minho darted forward into Felix’s space and said sharply, ‘Until you are able to fly home on your own wings, _you_ are our priority, Felix.  Hyunjin and I made this choice so do not even _try_ to feel guilty for it.’

Startled, Felix jerked backwards and nearly tipped over but Hyunjin was quick to wrap an arm around him.  There was a look in Minho’s eyes, hard and glittering, that suggested there was something personal about this for him.

His tone soft but serious, Hyunjin said, ‘We are going to take care of you now, alright?’

Felix’s breath hitched and he bit down on his lower lip to stop it wobbling.

‘You’ve been alone for far, far too long,’ Minho murmured, eyes still sharp but his touch light as he brushed Felix’s flushed cheek with his knuckles, and the curl of his mouth pleased when Felix leaned into the contact.  ‘We will not abandon you again, little angel.’

‘You’re safe now,’ Hyunjin continued, brushing a delicate kiss to the top of Felix’s head.

And for all that Felix hoped he was done with crying now, his body proved otherwise, tears welling up and spilling over again.  This time, however, they were quiet, his breathing hitching but no sobs clawing their way out.  He allowed himself to be drawn into Hyunjin’s strong embrace, Minho’s hand in his hair, their voices crooning sweetly and their wings enclosing them all in a shadowy cocoon.  When emotional exhaustion dragged at him, he allowed his eyes to close, entrusting himself to the angels who held him.

 

 

When Felix came to, he was puzzled.  Why did he feel so warm?  So relaxed?  It’d been centuries since he last felt this content.  He spread his awareness out through his body, flexing his muscles, curling his toes, clenching his hands –

Wait.

Was he holding someone?

Was someone holding _him?_

Felix cracked an eye open and nearly had a heart attack as his narrow line of sight was filled with fair skin that was definitely not his own.  He pushed himself up and squeaked in surprise as he realised he was lying _on_ someone.  Neither of them were wearing shirt.  Oh shit.  Wait, hold on –

Dark blue feathers.  The man under Felix was lying on a broad expanse of blue feathers.

Interrupting the aneurysm Felix’s half-asleep brain was about to have, a husky voice said, ‘Hello again, little angel.’

Felix jerked his head up, gaze running up a smoothly muscled chest to see black hair, glittering earrings, and a delicately-featured face with sparkling feline eyes watching him.

Ah.  Yes.  That was right.  There had been the demigod and the wish and then – then the angels.

‘Minho...’  The name dropped unplanned from Felix’s lips, renewed shock rendering him immobile.

A corner of that rosebud mouth curled up.  ‘That’s me,’ he agreed, hands stabilising the blond angel’s hips.

Felix blinked and shook his head quickly, trying to catch up.  Seraphs above, why did he feel so tired?  Where was he?

Then he realised he was straddling the powerful angel beneath him and, with a strangled yelp, threw himself sideways, slipping off Minho and the bed beneath him to land on the floor with a thump.  Felix grunted at the impact, hands smacking the stone floor behind him so he didn’t end up flat on his back.

Minho’s head poked over edge of the bed as he rolled over, magnificent wings lazily draped over himself and the mattress.  He blinked twice in quick succession.  ‘Are you alright?’

Felix stared at him.  Struggling to find his voice again, the younger angel glanced around, identifying that yes, this was the little stone apartment he’d been calling home for the past fifteen years or so.

‘How – how did we get here?’ he blurted out, still wide-eyed.

‘Hyunjin carried you,’ Minho replied lightly.  ‘I traced your divine trail back here.  It was very faint but... I’m good at that sort of thing.’

‘I slept through all that?’  Felix was bewildered; he was usually a very light sleeper, senses on alert even while his conscious mind rested.

Cocking his head slightly, the older angel nodded.  ‘Your divinity will take a while to settle in again.  No doubt it is utilising quite a lot of energy while it does that.’

Felix jolted, memories burning starlight on his tongue returning.  ‘My –  You gave me my divinity back!’

Minho smiled, propping his chin up on his hand.  ‘I did.  It’s already stronger than it was a few hours ago.’

Gods...  He really was getting his wings back.  His wish had come _true._   Felix’s eyes threatened to water but they still felt a little raw from the last round of crying and he sternly suppressed them.  No need to make even more of a spectacle of himself than he already had.

The quiet pad of approaching footsteps could suddenly be heard and then a tall angel with deep violet wings, Hyunjin (also shirtless), appeared in the balcony doorway.  He blinked at the scene before him and Felix blinked right back.

‘I step outside for two minutes and he’s already scrambling to get away from you?’ Hyunjin wryly directed at Minho.

Felix’s eyes widened in alarm.  ‘No,’ he protested immediately, only for Hyunjin to smile sweetly at him, eyes curving up into crescents.

‘I’m teasing, Felix, I’m teasing,’ the older angel reassured him.

The blond angel’s mouth made a little o shape of realisation.  Hyunjin approached him slowly, crouching down to his level.

Glancing up at Minho briefly, he asked, ‘Any particular reason you’re on the floor, sweetheart?’

‘Um...’  Felix swallowed, unsure of how to answer.

‘Did I make you uncomfortable?’  The bluntly worded, softly spoken question came from Minho.  ‘With the skin contact, I mean.  I forgot that mortal codes of dress and propriety are different to those of the divine plane and, well...’

 _And angels typically love skin contact_ , went unsaid, but Felix heard it anyway and felt the weight of his six hundred years away from the divine plane hanging heavily around his neck, bowing his head.

There was the rustling of sheets and feathers as Minho sat up and continued, ‘I apologise if –’

‘I wasn’t uncomfortable,’ Felix interrupted, voice low in both tone and volume.  He pulled his hands into his lap and focused on them instead of the other angels.  ‘I – I haven’t felt so _comfortable_ in forever.’  He chanced a peek up, immediately dropping his gaze again when confronted by two pairs of searingly intent dark eyes.  ‘I just... wasn’t expecting it.’

It had been such a _long_ time since he’d woken in the embrace of another.

‘Nothing about not wanting to be an imposition, then?’ Hyunjin asked, hands shifting restlessly like they wanted to reach out to Felix.

The younger angel twitched at the astute query.  Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he admitted, ‘Maybe... just a little...’

Minho huffed through his nose.  ‘Come here, little angel.’

Felix flushed at the nickname but he did as he was told, scrambling to his feet and approaching the bed.

Minho shifted onto his back once more, propped up against the wall of pillows Felix had been hoarding for some time.  (When his touch-hunger got particularly bad, burying himself under four dozen pillows helped slightly.)  Covering much of the bed with his spread out wings, Minho extended a hand to the blond angel, expression gentle.

But Felix... hesitated, doubt creeping under his skin.  Who was he to share in such close contact with these angels?  He was barely an angel anymore and one over half a millennium of disgrace to his name.  They already honoured him with their presence alone.

Hyunjin’s hand ghosted over Felix’s shoulder and down his arm, pulling him out of his spiralling doubts.  He lightly held Felix’s small hand as he sat on the edge of the mattress.

‘If we’re causing you any distress, Felix, tell us and we’ll stop at once,’ the violet-winged said quietly.  ‘But if we’re not... let us take care of you.  Please.’

With some effort, the younger angel forced himself to meet first Hyunjin’s wide, soft eyes and then Minho’s steady, piercing gaze.  They both radiated honesty and Felix’s doubts slowly slid back into the shadows in the face of such implacable sincerity.

He dipped his head in a jerky nod and took Minho’s hand.

A pleased smile unfurled across the older angel’s face and he tucked his wings back a little, drawing Felix onto the bed.  The younger angel crawled slowly over the mattress, taking care not to kneel on any of those beautiful blue feathers, but Minho had no such concerns.

‘How do you want to do this, little angel?’ Minho asked, clearly now considering that Felix’s desires might be different to what he’d expected.  ‘You seemed very happy with being as close to us as you could get while you slept, but...’  He trailed off cautiously.

Felix could feel his blush intensifying, burning the tips of his ears.

‘Whatever works for you,’ Hyunjin murmured behind him.

Half convinced all of this was a cruel dream his mind had concocted, Felix said haltingly, ‘It was – nice.  The skin contact, I mean.  I really – really liked it.’  Unable to explicitly voice his request, the blond angel simply looked at Minho from under his lashes, silently imploring.

Understanding flickered in Minho’s eyes and he said, ‘Come here, then.  Let’s get you comfortable, hmm?’

Felix allowed himself to be gently manhandled into whatever position the elder deemed best, baulking only when encouraged to straddle Minho again.  The blue-winged angel didn’t push him, instead tucking Felix close to his side and hauling his upper half over Minho’s chest, barely grunting at the weight.  Felix’s hands fluttered indecisively before he settled one on Minho’s shoulder and the other very lightly on the silky feathers of his inner wing.

Then the mattress dipped and Hyunjin lay, also propped up by a small mountain of pillows, behind Felix.  This bed was not designed to fit three people, let alone two pairs of full-grown wings, so he was quite close.

‘Is this alright?’ the violet-winged angel asked softly.

‘Yes,’ Felix whispered against the skin of Minho’s collar, where the eldest angel had placed his head.

The blond angel felt warm and safe, like every one of his long-dormant angelic senses were creaking to life and being thoroughly cossetted.  Hyunjin wiggled a little closer, legs pressing against the backs of Felix’s, and draped an arm over the younger’s back to soothingly stroke his thumb over Felix’s ribs.  An instinctive sigh of pleasure slipped from the younger angel’s lips.

Minho’s heart beat steadily under Felix’s head and his fingers combed through pale locks of hair, slowly but surely melting away any lingering tension in his body.

‘Rest now, little angel,’ Minho crooned.  ‘Rest secure in the knowledge that you are safe in our arms and with every moment you sleep, your divinity settles deeper into your bones.’

 

 

 

A year and a day later, Felix’s wings arrived.

He woke before dawn to a terrible pain in his back, one that drove him out of the nest-bed only to collapse on the floor, gasping.  Naturally, this woke Hyunjin and Minho, who had been sleeping on either side of him.  While physical contact usually soothed Felix like nothing else, when he felt their careful touches this time he hissed, every muscle tightening like a bow string, and the older angels immediately withdrew their hands for fear of hurting him more.

Nearly half an hour of agonised writhing later, Felix heard a wet tearing sound and a wave of relief swept his body, making him sag bonelessly against the cool stone floor.  He heard quiet noises of surprise from above him but didn’t quite have the ability to ask what they were about, busy gulping down air and trying to slow his racing heart.  There was a warm sensation trickling down his back and... something else he couldn’t quite describe.

‘Little angel, your wings have come through,’ Minho said, delighted.

‘What!’  With that breathless exclamation, Felix pushed himself up onto his elbows and twisted to look over his shoulder, ignoring the complaints of his abused muscles, and squeaked at the sight of two tiny wings sticking out on either side of his spine, partially-furled and dark with blood.

‘My wings...’ Felix murmured, awestruck.  It wasn’t that he hadn’t believed they _would_ arrive eventually, but after a year of his hair still being pale as parchment and the scars on his back unchanged, he’d been having some difficulty actually picturing it.

Hyunjin, who’d vanished, suddenly reappeared with a bowl and wet cloth.  He crouched down by Felix and, after a questioning glance, very gently started wiping away the blood on the blond angel’s back and feathers.  Felix winced, the whole area extremely sensitive, but nodded for Hyunjin to continue when the dark-haired angel paused.

‘They’re beautiful little things, aren’t they?’ Hyunjin said, eyes curving up into thin crescents of delight.

‘Just like our Lixie,’ Minho cooed, pinching Felix’s cheek and making him flush with aggrieved embarrassment.

‘Stop it,’ he grumbled, batting Minho’s hand away.

‘A shame about the timing, though,’ Hyunjin continued.  ‘You’ve got all day to wait before getting them in starlight.’

Felix snorted wryly.  ‘I’ve been waiting a lot longer than one day to get my wings under the stars, Jinnie.’

‘Alright, that’s true.  But you’re happy, right?  That they’ve come at last?’

Felix had no idea why Hyunjin would think otherwise but he made sure to meet the older angel’s eyes as he nodded firmly.  ‘The only time I’ve ever been happier is when you two showed up on the roof last year,’ he replied earnestly.

There was a beat of silence – then Hyunjin let out an undignified wail and clapped a hand to his heart while Minho hauled Felix’s head and shoulders into an uncomfortably tight hug, loudly complaining about him being far too sentimental for anyone’s good.

 

 

Felix spent much of the day lying on his front napping.  He hadn’t realised how exhausting it would be to release his wings and it wasn’t until early evening that he could stand for more than five minutes without his knees threatening to give way.

As they had been for the past year, Minho and Hyunjin were excellent at keeping him company.  Neither of them were able to remain cooped up and out of the air for more than a few hours at a time, so they took turns staying with him.  Felix had offered a weak protest, given that he was spending most of the time asleep, but they scoffed at him.  (More specifically, Minho pushed his face into a pillow and told him to stop talking and Hyunjin smothered Felix with his dark violet wings until the blond pleaded for mercy – and air.)

By the time sunset rolled around and the eastern sky was turning a rich blue, Felix was practically bouncing on his toes in anticipation.

‘They’re so pretty,’ Hyunjin sighed dramatically, standing by the blond angel, who was watching the sky from the window with avid attention.  ‘You’re _already_ so pretty and now your wings too?  How am I supposed to cope with this?’

Well-used to Hyunjin’s theatrics by now, Felix only rolled his eyes while the other angel admired his fluffy plumage, currently a deep amber colour.  ‘You say that like you couldn’t rival the cherubs,’ he retorted.

Hyunjin wrinkled his nose, wings rustling as he resettled them.  ‘I don’t think so.  And I was being serious, by the way,’ he continued, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, watching Felix.  ‘You might not have been able to see it, but your glow has been growing a lot over the last few months.  I reckon you’ll shine under the stars tonight.’

Felix hummed, pleased.  All angels glowed; it was their divinity, radiating out of them.  The most powerful angels – and subsequently those who shone brightest – were sometimes mistaken for shooting stars by mortals watching the night sky.  So he was glad his own glow was showing again.

A cool breeze raced in through the open window, raising goosebumps on Felix’s bare arms and torso.  He suppressed the urge to shiver; the skin of his back was much too sensitive today to handle the irritation of fabric, no matter how light the shirt.

Suddenly a wall of feathers obstructed his view, Hyunjin have spread a wing over the window, blocking the light wind.

‘Are you cold?’ Hyunjin asked, worriedly.  ‘There’s still some time before the stars come out; maybe you should go back to the nest?’

Exasperated by the other angel’s fretting, Felix raised an unimpressed brow at him.  ‘I’ll be fine.  A little cold air isn’t going to hurt me.  Besides, my bones would crawl out of my skin if I lay down again now.’

Hyunjin pouted, dark eyes retaining the soft edge of concern.  ‘Let me warm you up, then.’

‘I swear to the seraphs, if you put me in a bloody _cocoon_ again –’

Taking both of Felix’s small hands in his, Hyunjin hushed him, saying, ‘No, no, I’m going to _give_ you warmth.’

Felix quieted at that and his lips parted on an involuntary sigh as he felt a delicious wave of heat pour through Hyunjin’s hands into his, up his arms, and out into his whole body.  Several pulses later, Hyunjin stopped but did not let go of the blond angel.

Felix looked up at him from under lowered lashes and smiled.  ‘Thanks, Jinnie.’

Hyunjin’s expression was incredibly soft as he returned the smile, his gaze warm.  He squeezed Felix’s hands and replied, ‘Anytime, Lixie.’

The familiar sounds of someone landing on the roof were heard just then and Felix brightened, already tugging one of his hands from Hyunjin’s grip so he could turn and haul them both towards the balcony.  ‘Minho’s back, let’s go, c’mon!  The stars will be out soon!’

Ignoring the dark-haired angel’s startled squawk, Felix pushed open the double doors and dragged them outside.  This time, he didn’t suppress the shiver that rippled up his spine, for it was one of deep-rooted delight as his body rejoiced in the feel of fresh air for the first time all day.

And his wings, oh, his _wings_ – Felix could feel them stretching open, the action instinctive.  The sun had fully set now, leaving only a colourful wash of orange and pink on the horizon, while to the east the very first stars could be seen glinting in the twilight.

‘Hello down there!’

Felix spin on his heel to see Minho standing on the edge of the roof, looking down at them with a cheerful grin.  His hair was tousled and his cheeks red from flight, dark blue wings only partially folded back.

‘Are you going to come up or just keep staring at me?’ Minho asked, clearly amused.

Felix felt colour rise in his face and he promptly turned back to Hyunjin, who was smirking that stupid smirk of his.  ‘Can you –?’

‘Of course, hold on tight,’ the taller angel interrupted, gripping Felix firmly by the waist and waiting for the blond to grab onto his shoulders before unfurling his wings and launching them upward.

Ordinarily, Felix was more than capable of climbing up to the roof by himself – a stone wall twice his height was little challenge for an angel, winged or not.  But, after the morning’s events, his muscles ached whenever he did anything more strenuous than lift his arms.

‘How are you doing, little angel?’ Minho asked the moment Felix and Hyunjin touched down on the roof.

‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ Felix hastened to reassure the older angel.  ‘I’m not tired anymore.’

‘Good,’ Minho said, stepping behind Felix to check on his wings.  ‘They’re looking better already.’

‘Mmm they feel it, too,’ Felix sighed happily, letting his head tip back as he soaked up the ever-strengthening starlight.

It didn’t take long for the last of the sunset to give way to the gloaming, which in turn faded into true night.  The sky was clear of clouds and thus a great expanse of black velvet scattered with glittering pinpricks.  Felix doubted it was a coincidence that, after a week of overcast nights, the stars were so bright tonight.

The angels stayed on the roof for much of the night.  For the elder two, this was simply a pleasant opportunity to replenish their energy stores and reinvigorate their wings.  For Felix, however, it was critical – the reason he’d stayed inside all day was because new wings were fragile things and remained so until they were bathed in starlight for a good few hours.  Every time he twisted to look over his shoulder, the little feathery appendages sticking out of his back looked healthier, glossier, stronger.

The moon was late to rise that night, a thin crescent low on the horizon, but by the time it did, even Felix could see the glow emanating from his body and he laughed for sheer delight.  Around and above him, Minho and Hyunjin were shining as well, and they whooped and twirled through the air, sharing in his joy.

Felix was not able to join them on the wing – _yet_ – but after centuries grounded, he could dance just as well on land as he had once been able to do in the sky.  So he danced on the roof until his limbs ached and his heart thundered in his chest, heat of his own making keeping him warm.

Throughout it all, he felt two pairs of eyes on him and for them he _preened_.  Felix held nothing back, feeling alive in a way he had not for such a long time.  Then, when his muscles shook and he was panting for breath, his audience descended on silent wings to catch him with gentle hands.

‘I didn’t know you could dance so skilfully, little angel,’ Minho murmured, affectionate pride curling through his tone as he wrapped a supportive arm around Felix’s bare waist.

‘You really _are_ more beautiful than the cherubs,’ Hyunjin said, a tad awestruck, slipping his own arm around Felix and encouraging the blond to give Hyunjin more of his weight.

Tipping his head onto Hyunjin’s shoulder and resting his hand on Minho’s upper arm, Felix hummed, eyes half-shut, giddy from their attention and the starlight.  He just wanted to sleep now, his wings thrumming with energy and his body worn out.

‘Are you ready to go inside, Lixie?’ Hyunjin asked quietly, pressing a light kiss to Felix’s sweaty forehead.

‘Mmm.’ Felix sighed in agreement.  ‘Tired again.’

‘Jinnie, go prepare the bed,’ Minho instructed the other angel softly.  ‘I’ll bring him in.’

Felix could only assume Hyunjin had agreed, as a moment later his weight was being rolled into Minho’s strong arms.  A whisper of feathers indicated Hyunjin’s departure and Felix prised his eyes open once more to look up at the night sky.  No longer did it seem quite so far away.  He would touch it again one day soon.

 

 

It was a week later that Felix’s newly-showing divinity got him into trouble.

Neither Minho nor Hyunjin were particularly interested in walking amongst the mortals – their wings cause far too much of a bother, attracting attention wherever they went – and thus it was up to Felix to go down to the markets for food and other supplies.

So, a few days after his wings had come through, Felix rose not long after the dawn, dressed himself in a loose shirt so the delicate little appendages on either side of his spine had room to breathe, and whispered where he was going to Minho.  The dark-haired angel mumbled something in return but his eyes did not open and Felix wasn’t even sure he was awake.  Hyunjin had left for the sky at least an hour ago and Felix didn’t expect him to be back ‘til mid-morning at least.

The walk to the marketplace was not a long one, only twenty minutes or so, as the house the angels were staying in resided on the edge of the seaside metropolis.  Felix’s wings shifted happily against his back at the feeling of fresh air over his skin.  It felt good, too, to be up and walking – with his body still in recovery mode, he’d been doing a lot of lying about lately.

The morning market was already busy by the time Felix reached it, mortals humming to and fro between the many stalls, cloth bags and woven baskets in hand, their voices rising and falling as a comfortable background din.  Felix slotted in seamlessly, a single bag hooked over his elbow – Hyunjin and Minho didn’t eat much, their divinity and frequent exposure to starlight doing wonders to keep them nourished.  The blond angel was not (yet) so lucky, so here he was, making his way to the fresh fruit and vegetable section.

It all started out smoothly – Felix slipped between people to the stalls he needed, buying some of this and some of that.  He was of course not using his cloaking ability, as it was rather difficult to get someone to take your money when they couldn’t really see or hear you.

Then, just as he slipped a large leek into his bag with a grateful nod to the seller, Felix heard a sharp voice say behind him, ‘Hey, aren’t you the kid whose wish was granted by the Lady last year?’

Eyes narrowing slightly at the unfriendly tone, the angel turned on his heel to see a large man – taller and much broader than him – several paces away, a deep-set frown on his weathered face.  A woman and another man stood on either side of the speaker, suspiciously eyeing Felix.

Not wishing to cause or be involved in any fuss, Felix gave a single nod.  ‘Yes.’  Never would he forget the debt he owed to the Lady of Luck, and on the night of this year’s Wishing Festival he had gone to their temple to offer his sincerest thanks.

The man was not done, however, and he stepped forward with menacing intent.  ‘You’re glowing.’

Felix tensed, wary nerves prickling to life under his skin.  Shit.  He hadn’t meant to glow but he was out of practise with reminding himself not to.

‘That’s a sign of divinity, that is,’ the tall man continued.  ‘I’ve seen you around a couple of times before the Lady took your wish.  You never glowed then.’

The woman’s lip curled, all three of them looking decidedly hostile, and suddenly Felix understood where this was going.

‘I did not wish for divinity, if that’s what you’re implying,’ he said firmly.

‘Oh yeah?’  The tall man took another step forward.  ‘What’s that on your back, then?  You sure didn’t have nothing there last time.’

Well wasn’t _this_ an exciting situation.  ‘And there is still nothing on my back,’ Felix lied shortly, calculating how fast he would have to run to get out of here unscathed without losing his vegetables.

The man slightly behind the first, shorter, sharp-nosed, angrier-looking, sneered, ‘Mighty fine time of year for blouses, kid.’

It took Felix a second to get what he meant and then he wanted to throw himself into the sea.  It was autumn.  _Late_ autumn.  While everyone else was in thick vests and heavy coats, Felix was here dressed in a loose, low-collared shirt.  Not only that – he was still barefoot.  _Shit._

‘You’re no deity or angel or anything,’ the first man rumbled, stepping forward again.

‘Give us the wings and you won’t get hurt,’ the woman spat, ‘ _thief_.’

That was a contradiction right there but somehow Felix didn’t think they’d be too interested in hearing about how he was actually the farthest possible thing from a thief.  They were also drawing attention, the mortals having made no effort to keep their voices down, and no-one was looking overly friendly.

He hated to give ground but the three humans were getting too close, so Felix skittered back a couple of steps, saying as sternly as he could, ‘Whatever the Lady may or may not have given me, that is between myself and them.  Please leave me alone.’

At least one of them snarled a reply but Felix did not hear it, his thoughts racing almost as fast as his heart as he sought a way out of this spiralling mess.  He was healing and his wings were fragile as a butterfly’s – fighting was absolutely not an option.

_Minho.  I need Minho._

Hyunjin was fuck-knew-where but the oldest angel was barely a mile away, mere seconds to someone of his strength.

The mortals were clearly fed up with the cat-and-mouse game, however, and they lunged for Felix, who darted around them with the speed of a frightened hare, sacrificing his bag immediately.  His stamina might be crap right now and he certainly couldn’t scale any buildings but he might as well go all out now – any head start was a good one.

‘Stop that man!  He’s a thief!’

Felix had no idea who yelled that but it hardly mattered – heads turned like a wave toward him, hands darting out of nowhere to snatch at him, bodies pressing in close to corner him.

 _Help me,_ he begged Minho, arrowing the distress call to the older angel on a panicked thought, and then there was no more time to think.

A hand glanced off his back, touching his feathers, and a thread of genuine fear snaked around Felix’s throat, thin and deadly.  His focus narrowed as well-honed survival instincts kicked in and he ran faster, slid through smaller gaps.  The situation changed in his head – he was no longer hurrying through a crowd of fairly benign mortals, but sprinting for his life, for the life of his _wings_.

Never again would he let them be taken from him.  He would tear everyone around him to bloody pieces to avoid experiencing that soul-shattering pain again.

Something snagged the shoulder of his shirt and hung on tight.  Breath freezing in his lungs, Felix wrenched himself away, heard the fabric rip like parchment, felt the air on his wings which were flattened to his back.

The noise around him increased and suddenly there were _more_ people.  People everywhere.  Faces, hands, bodies, all reaching for him, for his precious feathers.  He went low, ramming his shoulder into soft stomachs, ignoring the strain on his body as he knocked down those in his way, scrambling over them to get away, to get _out_ –

He nearly choked on his tongue as his forward momentum was abruptly halted, a grip of steel around his elbow.  Words, words, noise, voices.  Felix did not hesitate to spin and bite the hand that held him, digging his teeth in ‘til blood flowed and there was a scream and he could run again.

But he’d been slowed, others had caught up, there were more hands reaching for him, restraining him, touching _his wings_ –

‘ENOUGH.’

The word cracked through the air like a whip and Felix felt sweet relief before he even understood why.

‘RELEASE HIM.’

Echoes bounced off walls and stalls and the ground, magnifying the roared command, and Felix took his first proper breath in a while as the awful sea of grasping hands receded.  A resounding thud sounded behind him and he felt the impact in his hands and feet, rattling up through his body.  When had he dropped into a crouch?  Didn’t know.  Didn’t matter.  The merciless rush of adrenaline made him tremble and quake unsteadily.

 _Felix._   The word was not said out loud but privately, mind to mind, and it was familiar, comforting, fiercely protective.  A barefoot, shirtless figure crouched in front of Felix and he did not startle, recognising the newcomer immediately.  With a crooked forefinger, Minho raised Felix’s chin until their gazes met under the shadow cast by his wings, raised to hide them from onlookers.

The younger angel inhaled sharply – Minho’s eyes were no longer dark, instead shining like white pearls in sunlight.  Shining with holy fire.

Felix understood that, should he give the slightest indication that it was what he wanted, Minho would burn the entire square and everyone in it to less than ash.

It was automatic to lift a hand and gently close it around Minho’s wrist in an act of silent refusal.  Felix did not want that much death weighing on either of their souls and besides, that would be far too much of an overreaction.

The older angel’s gaze, which had been sweeping over the blond, taking in his ragged appearance, checking for injuries, snapped back up. _It would not be an overreaction._   His words were bitingly angry and his expression so very cold.  _It is within your rights to execute them all or, in this case, direct me to do so._

 _Minho, no_.  Felix’s mental voice was quiet, still recovering from the fright of the past few minutes.  He could feel the adrenaline rush beginning to slow, sensed the almighty crash waiting for him.

Minho regarded him silently for a moment.  Then he blinked twice, fast and catlike, and Felix knew this was the elder accepting his decision.

 _May I carry you back to the nest?_ Minho asked tightly.  _I can’t heal you here._

Felix dipped his head in a nod.  _Please._

The dark-haired angel’s nostrils flared at the way Felix’s voice wavered.  _I’ve –_

Whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by the scuffing sounds of hesitant shoes approaching over smooth paving stones and in an instant Minho had spun away from Felix and risen to his feet, glowing like a sun, dark blue wings open wide.  The blond angel froze, shocked at the sudden movement and abruptly frightened again.  What if there was more than one person?  He couldn’t bring himself to look past Minho’s wings but what if the mortals had decided one angel was no impediment to them, what if they were reaching for his feathers again, he needed to get his back to a wall so no-one could hurt his wings, he needed to –

 _Stay there, little angel.  I will not let them touch you._   Minho’s tone was implacable, completely confident in his ability to protect Felix.  _Stay just where you are, alright?  This will only take a minute._

As Felix fought to breathe through the wave of panic that had crashed over him, clinging to the other angel’s words, he heard Minho bark, ‘Stand _back._   My flight-mate may not presently be at full strength but I assure you that I am.’

Felix didn’t catch the reply from the mortals, if there was one (and he was still staring at Minho’s wings and back), but the angel’s response rang out, his voice augmented to carry over the entire square.

‘Yes, you have attacked and injured an angel.  With or without wings, he has _always_ been of the divine plane.’  His tone cooled, becoming like ice.  ‘It is due to his mercy alone that I do not take recompense for this outrage in the form of your blood.  Should this ever happen again –’ Felix’s skin prickled at the sudden hum of power – ‘there will be consequences and they will be severe.’

Silence reigned in the wake of the angel’s promise and Felix found the courage to tilt his head just a little to the side, peeking around the midnight barrier of Minho’s right wing.  He saw a crowd of mortals, all frozen in fear and with a healthy gap between them and Minho.  Felix turned quickly away from them before he made accidental eye contact, glancing up at the dark-haired angel instead.

The first thing he saw was the sword.  It was not overly large but the blade was narrow, mirror-like, and looked perfectly lethal.  The handle gleamed silver – was that a sapphire in the pommel? – and faint white not-smoke rolled slowly, heavily out of the sword to the ground.  That alone was a great testament to Minho’s power, as only the strongest blades oozed ether-matter and an angel’s blade was effectively an extension of their self.

Minho held his sword across his body, point downward, in a pose that was more defensive than aggressive.  Not that anyone was going to attack, of course – even mortals would not be so suicidal as to charge an armed, angry angel.

When no-one made any attempt at objection, Minho let his sword dissipate into ether-matter and dimmed his glow somewhat before turning back to Felix, eyes still shining.

 _Come, little angel, it is time to go,_ he said, tone much warmer as he held out his hands for the younger angel to take.

Felix let Minho help him up and when he immediately swayed, unsteady on his feet, Minho scooped him up in one easy movement, cradling the blond angel against his bare chest.  In an overt display of strength, the dark-haired angel didn’t even bend his knees before lifting off, his powerful wings sending them soaring upward.  Felix tucked his face into the crook of Minho’s neck and simply hung on for the ride.

It’d been so long since the last time he was attacked, he’d forgotten what it was like.

They touched down on the balcony of the house less than a minute later.  Minho strode inside and over to their large bed, sitting with Felix in his lap and carefully removing the remnants of the younger angel’s torn shirt from him.  Felix tightened his grip on the older angel, unwilling to lift his tear-streaked face from Minho’s shoulder; he knew he’d start crying in earnest the second he met the elder’s eyes.

Minho did not pry him away, however.  He gently petted the younger, holding him safe and secure, humming softly, letting Felix’s silent tears slide down his chest without comment.

They remained that way until a flurry of violet feathers came in through the door and Hyunjin gasped, ‘Felix!’

The angel in question scrunched up his face, curling up smaller in Minho’s arms, but his bubble was broken – he sobbed.  Instantly, Minho was cooing soothingly, rocking him from side to side, and a moment later Hyunjin had crouched beside them, hands hovering uncertainly.

‘Felix, sweetheart, are you hurt?  Can I touch you?’ the purple-winged angel asked anxiously, pleading.

Hiccupping, Felix lifted his head, meeting Hyunjin’s gaze.  The older angel looked like he might start crying too and Felix unhooked one of his hands from around Minho’s neck.  He threaded his small fingers through Hyunjin’s, squeezing tightly, reassuring them both.

Hyunjin’s wide eyes flicked to Felix’s wings, then up to Minho’s face.  ‘What happened?’

Felix attempted to reply but failed, voice breaking into little sobs every time he opened his mouth, so Minho stepped in.  ‘They tried to take his wings,’ he murmured.  ‘They didn’t believe he was an angel, thought he’d tricked the Lady of Luck into giving them to him.’

The words, no matter how softly said, burned like acid over his skin and Felix cried harder, reliving the sickening fear he’d felt at the thought of losing his wings so soon after regaining them.

‘Hey, hey, Lixie, it’s alright,’ Hyunjin said, quiet but firm as he cupped the side of Felix’s face.  ‘Breathe, sweetheart.  No-one is going to hurt you or touch your wings now, alright?  Minho and I won’t let them.’

A rim of shining pearl appeared around Hyunjin’s dark irises.

‘I should have taken more care,’ Felix whispered, tears flowing unchecked as he stared unblinkingly at Hyunjin.  ‘I’m sorry.’

Minho’s hold on him tightened, the older angel immediately shooting down the unnecessary apology.  ‘None of this is your fault, little angel,’ he said sternly.  ‘The mortals had no right or reason to attack you.’

‘Having fallen once doesn’t make you any less of an angel,’ Hyunjin told Felix, stroking his thumb over the younger’s flushed, damp cheek.  ‘Especially not when the seraphs have pardoned you.  You know that, right?’

Felix swallowed and looked away from Hyunjin, ducking his head into Minho’s chest again.  A hush fell over the room, tension suddenly rising.

‘Felix,’ Hyunjin began, rising concern in his voice, but the blond angel recoiled, pulling his hand from the other’s grasp and his arm from around Minho’s neck to fist his hands in his hair, knuckles paling.

‘Don’t, please, just don’t,’ he cried, knees drawing up to his chin.  ‘Please –’

‘It’s alright, Felix, it’s alright, calm down,’ Minho interrupted, his tone gentle but implacable.  He wrapped his hands around the blond’s and carefully tugged them away from Felix’s abused hair.  ‘We need to have a look at any injuries you have, then I think a nap sounds good, don’t you?’

Slowly, Felix lifted his head, peering at Minho from under his messy fringe with wide, watery eyes.  Minho offered him a faint smile and pressed a light kiss to one of the hands he still held.

‘How does that sound, little angel?  Would you like that?  We can talk later.’

Felix nodded once, sniffing.

Fortunately, there had been no damage done to his delicate amber wings and aside from a couple of bruises, Felix had gotten away unscathed.  Physically, at least.  Hyunjin laid his hands over the small wounds and in a few minutes had healed them, leaving only the blond angel’s tear-stained cheeks and shadowed gaze as evidence of what had happened.

Well, there was also the fact that neither Minho nor Hyunjin’s eyes had stopped glowing with holy fire, for all that their anger appeared contained.  Trembling could be stopped, the aura of divinity could be repressed, but the eyes?  They always showed the truth.

After a quick but careful face wash, multiple assurances of safety and care, and a dozen cheek and forehead kisses, Felix curled up on the bed to rest, utterly drained now.  The other angels lay on either side of him, arms and legs tangled with his, their wings extended slightly to provide warm, living blanket.

‘Thank you... Minnie, Jinnie,’ Felix sighed, already half asleep, eyes drooping shut.  ‘Love you.’

Neither replied, only held him tighter, watching over him as exhaustion swiftly pulled him under.

 

 

_(The angel was clearly a young one, his purple wings small and his skin glowing with residual starlight even under the sun.  The beauty of that was ruined, however, by the blood painting him and the rocky ledge he lay crumpled on, evidence of his rough landing._

_Minho wasn’t expecting such a badly hurt angel.  No-one had been – that’s why he had been sent alone.  This was beyond his ability to deal with by himself while still recovering from his own injuries, but he was all this angel had._

_Without him, this angel would never make it to the divine plane._

_Without him, this angel would die a cold, lonely death on the mortal plane._

_As Minho watched, a single plum-coloured feather detached from its wing and drifted down to lie by the broken angel’s wrist.)_

 

Felix had been hovering on the edge of consciousness when he felt the bed dip and rise to one side of him, half of his soft wing-blanket disappearing.  He cracked open a bleary eye just in time to see Minho go out onto the balcony.

He let his eye drift shut.  It was entirely possible that Minho was stretching his wings, feeling stiff after bring out of the air for a while.  Felix opened both eyes, just a sliver, seeing Hyunjin’s relaxed face inches from his own, black fringe tangling with his long eyelashes, plump pink lips parted just fractionally.  Felix had a niggling feeling that what had driven Minho from their bed was something a little more than physical discomfort.

Sliding backwards out of the bed without waking Hyunjin was a challenge, but the older angel was a known heavy sleeper and he barely stirred.  Felix felt his heart squeeze fondly when Hyunjin made a quiet snuffling noise, hand forming a loose fist in the warm space Felix had left behind.

The blond angel padded out after Minho on quiet feet, pausing in the doorway as he beheld the elder sitting on the narrow metal railing.  His feet swung carelessly, only the weight of his wings keeping him from tipping off.

‘What’s up, Minho?’  Felix kept the question light and inoffensive as he moved to stand by the dark-haired angel.

Minho glanced at him, eyes no longer shining pearlescent and ignored Felix’s question in favour of asking his own.  ‘How are you feeling after your nap?’

‘Better.’ The younger angel cocked his head.  ‘But what about you?’

The line of Minho’s jaw could’ve cut rock with how tightly it was clenched.  He looked away, turning his gaze to the endless ocean, and his many silver earrings glinted in the afternoon light.

‘Don’t worry about me, little angel, I’m fine.’

Felix glanced down at Minho’s white-knuckled grip on the railing, the way the metal was warping in his powerful grip.  He brushed his fingers over the elder’s and asked, ‘What’s this about then, hmm?’

Minho flinched, tearing his hand away like he’d been burned and leaving the rail with distinct dents in it.  This was the first time Minho had ever rejected Felix’s touch and, despite knowing that the older angel was clearly upset about something, it stung.  Felix fought not to show the hurt though, having no desire to sidetrack Minho with guilt.

‘Just... leave it, Felix.  It’s nothing serious.’

‘And yet suddenly I’m Felix again, not your little angel?’

Silence.

The blond angel arched a brow.  ‘You’re allowed to be vulnerable too, you know?  I know I cry enough for the three of us but –’

‘It’s nothing like that –’

‘But there is _something_ –’

‘You don’t need to worry about it –’

‘Don’t you trust me?’

The words came out sharper than Felix intended and Minho pulled up short, lips parted on an aborted retort.

‘Look,’ Felix said, trying to temper his tone.  ‘If it’s something you really don’t want to talk about, fine.  But if you’re not telling me because you think I’ll consider it stupid or you don’t want to appear weak when you literally had to rescue me just a few _hours_ ago –’ he swallowed convulsively – ‘well, that comes across like you don’t trust me very much.’

Minho’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly and his gaze dropped, long lashes flicking down.  ‘I trust you,’ he murmured.  His feet were still swaying back and forth.  ‘I trust you, little angel.  It’s just... been a while since...’

When his voice trailed off into nothing, Felix gave him only a moment before quietly prompting, ‘Since?’

The older angel exhaled forcefully.  ‘Since I had a – a dream about mine and Hyunjin’s first meeting, when he was barely out of star-form.’  He glanced back over his shoulder toward the balcony doors, though Felix knew the bed and its final occupant were not visible from here.

‘Did... did this morning resemble that meeting at all?’ the blond asked, unsure as to how the day’s events could trigger long-ago memories of the birth of Hyunjin’s angel-form.

Minho flashed a weary half-smile at him.  ‘A little.  Both involved me rescuing a young angel in great distress.’  His lips turned down, unfocused gaze directed into the distance again.  ‘Both involved me being nearly too late.’

He might’ve been away from the divine plane for some considerable time, but Felix was fairly sure he remembered how angelic births worked and they certainly weren’t life- or wing-threatening.

‘Will you tell me what happened?’ he ventured cautiously, closing his own hands around the warped rail.

Minho swallowed thickly, eyes yet turned away from Felix.  ‘Let’s just say... when his star fell, it missed the divine plane and hit the mortal plane instead.  I was... young, younger than you are now, but there was a war happening and I was recovering from a serious injury so... so I was sent to retrieve the new angel.’

Felix itched to take one of the older angel’s trembling hands in his, to comfort him, but resisted, tightening his grip on the thin metal.

‘I was sent partly as a gauge of how recovered I was,’ Minho continued quietly, ‘and partly because no-one else could be spared.  Only, we didn’t know how badly he’d been hurt in his landing.’  His nostrils flared, his eyes stayed unblinking.  ‘It was... a lot worse than I’d expected and I wasn’t strong enough to take us both home without killing him in the crossover.’

At last, Minho blinked, then grimaced.  ‘We weren’t stuck here long in angelic terms but it felt like an eternity.  All I was thinking about was getting stronger as fast as possible and keeping Hyunjin alive.’

‘How long were you here?’ Felix whispered.

‘Three years.’

Felix’s eyes widened before he could stop them – how was Hyunjin still _alive?_   Young angels needed to be surrounded by others of their kind, practically _steeped_ in divinity for the first few decades of their lives.  By the love of the seraphs, how had Hyunjin survived with only one angel for _three years?_

Minho saw his expression and snorted softly.  ‘We cut it very, very close.  I didn’t pull us into the crossover until he started losing his feathers and even then it nearly finished us both off.’

‘No wonder he loves you so much,’ Felix said, unthinkingly, before squeaking in alarm and clapping his hands over his mouth.

But Minho’s quiet laugh was genuine, a little light coming back into his dark eyes.  ‘He does, it’s true.  Almost as much as I love him.’

Something about how Minho said that made Felix’s skin prickle uncomfortably and he blinked in surprise at the feeling.  Obviously the older two angels loved one another, this was plain to see.  But Felix had somehow not realised the nature of that love, previously having thought it to be platonic.  Now, however... now he wondered if they’d been refraining from overly intimate touches for the past year because of him.

Felix didn’t like the thought of that.

Minho was watching him.  ‘Are you alright, little angel?’

The blond quickly nodded, fingers flexing around the rail before he let go.  ‘Yes,’ he replied, reaching for the elder’s hands, seeking to give and receive comfort through the innocent touch.  ‘I’m sorry today dredged up bad memories for you.’

Squeezing his hands, Minho said, ‘Nothing good was bound to come from such a thing, but don’t you dare feel guilty.’  He met Felix’s gaze now and his eyes were piercingly bright once more.  ‘Understood?  Ensuring your safety is our obligation while –’

Felix’s breath hitched.  ‘Obligation.’

Minho’s expression, momentarily confused, softened.  ‘I misspoke.  Not even the swords of the seraphs could have compelled me to abandon you there.’

‘Oh.’  Felix didn’t know why Minho’s earlier declaration about Hyunjin had rattled him so much, but it had left him feeling distinctly needy, so he followed up with a hopeful, ‘Really?’

Dark hair sliding forward as he nodded, Minho repeated, ‘Really.’

There was no more to be said on the subject after that, as a drawn out whine emerged from the house, Hyunjin dismayed to find himself alone in the bed.  Awash with emotion, Felix abruptly strode back inside, meeting the taller angel on the threshold, whereupon he promptly launched himself into Hyunjin’s arm and hugged him tightly.

‘Oh?  What’s this about?’ he asked, bewildered but willing, his own arms wrapping firmly around Felix.

‘Nothing much,’ the blond mumbled into Hyunjin’s bare shoulder.  ‘Just – you’re really important to me, okay?’

A startled laugh burst out of the dark-haired angel, echoed by a quieter one out on the balcony, and he rubbed his cheek over Felix’s pale hair.  ‘You’re really important to me too, Lixie~’

 

 

They took him flying that night.

When, barely ten minutes after curling up under the blankets, Felix had whispered that he didn’t want to close his eyes for fear of dreaming, Minho and Hyunjin had promptly rolled out of bed and led him outside.  There the violet-winged angel had taken Felix into his arms and shot up into the sky.  Despite not being anywhere near large enough to carry him, Felix’s wings nonetheless unfurled to catch the wind, two pennants of amber on either side of his spine.

Minho took much delight in performing all manner of stunts for the entertainment of the other two, who kept to a slightly more sedate pace.  They whooped and cheered him on, spurring him to greater feats.

The night sky was mottled with clouds, the moon and stars obscured more often than not, but this did not deter the angels from flying out to the harbour and over the ocean.  Hyunjin and Minho did not release the glow of their divinity until they were a fair way out from the shore, and then it was enough to illuminate the smooth waters for some distance around them.

Felix’s glow, of course, was much softer.

At the blond’s request, Hyunjin set him down in the water.  Six hundred years without feathers had given Felix plenty of time to get very good at swimming and his new wings were small enough not to cause him much trouble.  It took some convincing to get the others into the sea with him and when they at last did, there was much spluttering and undignified flailing.  Felix nearly inhaled a gallon of water laughing at Hyunjin’s squawking and the look of sheer, frustrated determination on Minho’s face as the eldest angel fought to get his water-logged wings beating again.  Minho got Felix back for that by hoisting him out of the sea and not-so-gently tossing the screeching angel back in.

It was several hours before Hyunjin scooped Felix up again and the three returned to the house, wet and exhilarated.  The flight back dried them off, leaving their hair, clothes, and feathers stiff with salt.  Far too tired to deal with that now, they all piled onto the bed, the elder two curled around Felix, and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

 

 

 

Four years later saw the three angels in a different city, one far from the coast.  They had moved on account of a task the elder two had received from their archangel.  Felix knew little of the details beyond that it meant he spent some of his days alone now, Minho and Hyunjin roaming the cramped, noisy streets for that most valuable of resources – information.

Having spent the better part of five years with literally no more than three hours in a row by himself, Felix and his divinity were certainly strong enough to manage a whole day without the others, although that didn’t mean he didn’t get a bit lonely on occasion.  That hardly mattered though – Minho had informed him conflict had broken out between two factions of seraphs, which meant angels at war with one another.  Ordinarily, Minho and Hyunjin would have been joining the rest of their flight-wing in the fighting.

Obviously that wasn’t happening this time – stronger he might be, but until his wings were fully grown, Felix’s divinity would be too delicate to handle the onslaught of the divine plane.  These ten years were his acclimatisation time.

All of this meant that the Archangel Hwasa had Minho and Hyunjin doing what they could on the mortal plane, whether gathering intel, tapping contacts, or making back alley deals and threats.

So no, he didn’t let out a peep when, for the sixth day in a row, his companions left with the dawn.  A kiss on the cheek from Hyunjin, Minho’s fingers combing through his finally-darkening hair.  Then they were gone.

The building they were all living in now was a tall one.  All the buildings in this city were tall, looming constructions of red masonry, white plaster, and tan stone.  Indeed, the angels did not even occupy the whole building – it was a block of apartments stacked on top of each other.  Of course, theirs was the top one.  In the eyes of this thriving city, there was considerable social prestige attached to living higher up.  Neither he nor the others cared in the slightest about that, but it had made acquiring this apartment a somewhat... interesting experience.

Fortunately, the landlord had had enough survival instincts to know he really needed to stop arguing when Hyunjin had pulled a sword of his own out of thin air, oh-so-absent-mindedly twirling it in his hands.  As no-one had actually died, Felix couldn’t find it in himself to care that they’d extorted the apartment from the mortal landlord’s reluctant hands – it had taken months for the nightmares about his experience in the square to go away.

Hyunjin and Minho returned, as ever, after sunset.  As the roof was tricky to access without a fully functioning set of wings (Felix’s amber ones were bigger now, sure, but not _that_ big) and the lights of the city hid the stars behind an artificial glow, Felix waited for them inside.  Unsurprisingly, they were tired, but still they gratefully ate the food he had made and listened fondly to his recounting of the day’s adventures, the younger angel having spent his time exploring another one of the districts.

The three angels fell into bed together not long after dinner, the elder two having taken only the time to wash in the bathtub before turning in.  Felix, worn out from his day spent adventuring, fell asleep almost as easily as they did.

 

 

_(His sword sliced down, the demonic creature collapsing in two, and he surged forward.  The war-hunger had him in its teeth now – his sword longed to rend flesh, his pulse pounded to the beat of a war drum, his eyes danced over the battlefield in search of an unoccupied foe to –_

_Who was that?_

_That was a greenling, one of the newest recruits, untested in live combat._

_What was he doing on the frontlines of a battle between elite angelic forces?_

_Horror seized the commander as he saw an enemy angel in full armour sweeping down to the greenling and he knew the little one was_ going to die –

_He flew as he’d rarely flown before, a bolt of black and red shooting up the valley –_

_The blade of the enemy angel swung down –_

_The greenling barely had time to stare in terror, far too slow to react –_

_The commander threw himself at the young one, shielding his body, sparing him the loss of his head –_

_And blistering, mind-numbing pain exploded within the commander’s body, the sword cleaving through his spine –_

_There was no more thought.)_

 

 

Felix woke to the sound of Hyunjin’s voice, raised in alarm, and the feeling of Minho writhing beside him.

‘– wake up, Minho, please, you need to wake up –’

Thoroughly disoriented but concern already rising like a tide within him, Felix struggled to get his eyes open.  When at last they cooperated, he was presented with the sight of Minho on his side, face screwed up in distress, his whole body jerking, wings half open and shifting erratically.  Hyunjin was leaning over the older angel, shaking his shoulder in an effort to wake him.

‘Wake _up_ ,’ Hyunjin barked, more authoritative than Felix had ever heard him, and Hyunjin sharply slapped Minho’s cheek.

Felix squeaked in shock, pushing himself up and scooting towards the edge of the bed to give them more room.  Hyunjin did not appear to notice, entirely focused on the blue-winged angel.

There was an awful gurgling sound and Minho’s eyes flew open.  He held Hyunjin’s gaze for only a second, some silent communication passing between them that caused the younger of the two to choke on a horrified gasp, before Minho’s bright eyes clouded over.  Then his body started twitching again, hands tightly fisted in the sheets, and a shrill, agonised whine emerged from his throat.

Felix’s voice trembled as he asked, ‘What’s h- happening to Minho?’

‘His brother’s dying,’ was Hyunjin’s curt reply, the violet-winged angel forcing Minho’s hands open so he could entwine their fingers.

The divine glow of both angels was abruptly at full strength and Felix had to clap his hands over his eyes, barely able to squint at them without being blinded.  Just as he realised they must be doing an energy transfer – Minho to the divine plane and Hyunjin to Minho – a ragged scream split the air and Felix recoiled hard enough to fall off the bed.

He scrambled up onto his knees, eyes watering as he made out Minho arching off the mattress, spine bending like a bow.  Pain was present in every tensed muscle, every taut line of his body, his mouth open wide on an endless cry.  His glow dimmed as quickly as it had come and terror left Felix winded.

_‘No!’_

Hyunjin’s roar was one of furious, helpless denial and as Minho sagged back against the crumpled sheets, skin rapidly draining of colour, the younger angel freed one hand and cupped the side of Minho’s head, holding him still.

‘Look at me, Minho, _look at me_ ,’ he snarled, face hovering above the elder’s.  ‘Draw on me, use my strength too!’

It was a strange experience but Felix could hear the words both physically and mentally, Hyunjin making the command double-layered and not bothering to restrict it to only Minho’s mind this time.

The reply was faint and truncated – _Can’t.  Can’t draw.  Got to stay open for him._

Hyunjin’s response was an animalistic growl of frustration.  _Then let me in as well_ , he countered.  _Let me in, Minho._

Minho’s eyelids fluttered, sweat sliding down his face.  _Yes._

Without hesitation, Hyunjin pressed his mouth to the elder’s in a rough kiss.

The unexpected action threw Felix for a loop but there was no time to dwell on that as Hyunjin’s glow was already starting to fade as well and Minho’s wasn’t stabilising.  Fear seeped, viscous and cloying, through the youngest angel’s veins.

‘Wait, wait, no, what’s happening, no, stop it, please,’ Felix begged, the words tripping off his tongue in a disordered jumble.  ‘Hyunjin, Minho, please, stop it, stop it, _stop it_ –’

Tears of pure panic streaked down his face as he watched the light fade from the two people most important to him in all the universe.  They were both silent now, still connected in a kiss, bodies rigid with strain.

Their divinity continued diminishing rapidly.  Too rapidly.  Transfers like this were risky at best, fatal at worst, and Felix could not watch them die.  They weren’t responding to him and he couldn’t watch them die.  Couldn’t _let_ them die.  He would sooner rip out his own precious divinity and force it into them, even if it killed him in the process.

He loved them.

He would die for them.

He _would_ die for them.

‘You can’t die, you can’t,’ he mumbled, pulse thundering in his ears as he climbed onto the bed and crawled over to them.

‘I won’t let you, won’t let you die,’ he whispered, wrapping his small hands around their entwined ones.

‘You promised you wouldn’t abandon me,’ he choked out, pressing their hands to his lips.

Slowly, carefully, he opened himself to them, the process halting and awkward after so long since the last energy transfer Felix had done.  He persevered, questing out for their mental presences, gritting his teeth against the pull they exuded when he found them.  They were like sinkholes, desperately sucking in all the strength from around them that they could, shining so bright in Felix’s mind’s eye as they burned through the energy at a ferocious rate.

Felix didn’t have a very large reservoir of energy but it would have to do.  As far as he could tell, Hyunjin had opened himself entirely to Minho, strength pouring out of him like a waterfall.  Felix had the presence of mind not to do that, at least.  Using his physical grip on them as an anchor, he opened two tightly controlled channels, one for each angel.

Minho was being drained at an ever-increasing rate, something Felix had no doubt the older angel was strong enough to stop if he so chose.  But Minho did not choose, allowing the force drawing on him –

_Hyunjin said it was his brother, I didn’t know he had a brother –_

– to violently clean him out of energy.  Combined with both Minho and Hyunjin, Felix could only hope they would be enough to last until Minho’s brother was attached to another source.  It was either that or someone died.

Time was a tricky concept on the mental plane – it was difficult to tell if they’d been struggling for hours or years or minutes.  All Felix knew was that the pull was getting stronger and he was getting weaker.  He’d stopped sending strength to Minho, directing it only at Hyunjin, whose glow was practically non-existent now.

It was as Felix could feel his physical body beginning to collapse that the pull suddenly stopped and promptly reversed, a completely new energy racing down from the divine plane, blasting through each of them in turn, Minho, Hyunjin, Felix.

And _blessed seraphs_ was it potent, like liquid fire scalding every one of his nerve endings.

Like holy fire.

 _That’s not angelic,_ Felix realised, reeling.  _That’s_ arch _angelic._

The surge was powerful but brief.  After mere moments, the connection cut off and Felix was unceremoniously shoved back onto the physical plane, where he keeled over onto one of Hyunjin’s soft wings.  He stayed there, panting, as he felt a deep, aching exhaustion settle in his bones.  This was the cost of almost fatally emptying himself of energy, but also of helping Hyunjin and Minho stay alive, so Felix accepted it as his due.

When he felt movement beneath him, Felix carefully pushed himself upright, expecting Hyunjin to get up too.  To his surprise, however, it was Minho.  The oldest angel looked thoroughly worn out, but his gaze was piercingly intense.  Hyunjin remained motionless.

As Felix prepared to spin into renewed panic, Minho said hoarsely, ‘He’ll be fine.  He’s just used too much energy.’

Then he rolled the unconscious angel off him, laying him gently on the mattress and tenderly kissing the corner of his mouth before getting up, expression grim.

Bewildered and tired, Felix could only blink up at Minho helplessly.

The elder came around the bed and crouched down by the younger’s side, taking his hands.  ‘I have to leave, little angel,’ Minho said, hushed and sombre.

‘What?  No – no, you can’t, what about –’

‘I have no choice,’ the blue-winged angel interrupted.  ‘My archangel has summoned me.  Hyunjin’s and my commander is gravely injured and as one of the senior members of our flight-wing, I must return to the divine plane and help.’

‘Wh- what about Hyunjin, though?  And –’ Felix swallowed through a tight throat – ‘me?’

Minho’s shoulders slumped and he sighed deeply, scrubbing a hand over his face.  ‘I need you to take care of Hyunjin.  He’s going to be very, very tired for a while, so you’ll have to look after him, alright?  Please,’ he quietly asked of Felix.  ‘Take care of yourself, too.  I’ll contact you when I can and with any luck, I’ll be back in a few weeks.’

Blinking back more tears, Felix managed to nod, biting down hard on his lower lip to keep it from wobbling.  Soft apology was written all over Minho’s face, but he was unflinching from his duty, a heaviness to his eyes that had not been there that evening.  And if Minho could go through all _that_ then take off immediately for a battlefield – well, Felix would have to be strong too.

So the younger angel made no protest when Minho leaned in and pressed a warm kiss to his forehead and rose.

‘Be safe, please,’ Felix whispered as the elder angel climbed onto the sill of their largest window, ready to jump out.

Minho glanced back at him, eyes beginning to shine with holy fire.  ‘I will, little angel.’

Then he was gone.

 

 

Hyunjin didn’t wake up for four days and even then, his return to consciousness was brief and... flat.

Felix had been giving what little energy he could spare to the violet-winged angel, trying to help the elder recover what he had lost, and he’d been pleased to see colour coming back to Hyunjin’s skin, a shimmer to his feathers.  But he remained deeply asleep until the evening of the fourth day after Minho’s departure.

Perched on the windowsill where he’d spent much of the past few days, staring blankly out at the city, Felix heard a soft sighing come from the direction of the bed, followed by a fuzzy sort of groan.  They were the sort of sounds one made instinctively upon waking and his gaze darted immediately to Hyunjin’s prone figure.

Dark purple wings shifted slightly and Hyunjin’s long arms came into view as he stretched.  Relief blossomed in Felix’s chest.

‘Jinnie, how are you feeling?’ he asked gently, trotting over to the bed and kneeling on the floor, reaching out to brush his fingers over Hyunjin’s shoulder.

Hyunjin’s face was partly obscured by his long hair (had he cut it at all in the past few years?) but he scraped it back behind one ear, blinking blearily up at Felix.  His eyes were hazy, and Felix tried to tamp down his concern.

‘How are you doing?’ he reiterated, stoking his hand down Hyunjin’s arm to rest on his wrist.

Hyunjin blinked, slow and sluggish.  ‘Hurts,’ he mumbled.

Felix’s heart clenched.  ‘What hurts, Jinnie?  How can I help?’

Another blink and the angel’s dark eyes glistened.  ‘Hurts,’ he repeated in a very small voice.  ‘Minho... Chan... hurts.’

A tear broke free, sliding down his temple into his hair but he did not cry.  Not even his breathing altered.  He simply stared at Felix – no, _through_ Felix.  Stared through him and wept silently, mumbling the same words over and again.

After a while of this, Hyunjin seemed to drift back off to sleep, leaving Felix alone again.

When he was sure the elder was completely out, the amber-winged angel turned so he sat with his back against the bed and let his head drop to the mattress.  He stared at the ceiling without seeing it, a sour taste in his mouth and a dull ache in his chest.  Seraphs above, what was he meant to do in this situation?  Minho had charged him with taking care of Hyunjin but – how was he to do that?  If Hyunjin was feeling this much pain, he couldn’t’ve closed his mental connection with Minho and it wasn’t like Felix could do it for him.  Felix could only assume “Chan” was the severely injured commander and Minho’s brother.  He’d once known a Chan and he hoped this was not the same one, for his Chan had been a gentle, protective soul.

Felix set his jaw, determination coalescing in him.  He’d become too dependent on Minho and Hyunjin over the past five years, allowing them to baby him far too much.  Now it was his turn to step up and be supportive.  Even if, for now, all he could do was comfort Hyunjin and feed him energy.  As for when the sleeping angel woke properly, well, he’d deal with that when it came as best he could.

 

 

Forty-odd hours later, Hyunjin woke again.

This time, Felix was in the kitchen making something to eat.  They were getting worryingly low on food but the amber-winged angel couldn’t bring himself to leave Hyunjin unattended long enough to get more.

A sudden, wavering groan from the bedroom caught Felix’s attention as he poured a mixture of freshly ground spices into the stew and he nearly dropped the bowl into the pot too.  Quick as a flash, he’d set it down, whacked a lid over the stew, and rushed to the bedroom, painfully clipping the arch of one of his wings against the doorframe.

‘Hyunjin?’ Felix called anxiously, coming around to the violet-winged angel’s side of the bed.

At least he looked more awake this time, more alive – well, perhaps not quite that.  As Hyunjin struggled to sit upright, it was painfully obvious that he’d lost a startling amount of weight over the past six days.

‘Lix, Felix,’ Hyunjin gasped, relieved and desperate and wobbling like he might topple over at any moment.

Alarmed at how frantic the older angel appeared, Felix reached out to steady him, encouraging Hyunjin to lean against him for support.

‘I’m here, Jinnie, it’s alright,’ he reassured, wrapping an arm around Hyunjin’s shoulders.

But the elder would not be calmed and he shook his head, tangled hair falling forward.  His eyes were wide and they darted around the room, searching for someone who wasn’t there.  Felix felt a bite of nerves – was Hyunjin’s link to Minho still open?

‘Minho, I need to help Minho,’ he said urgently.  ‘Felix, we have to help him, he’s hurting, I can feel it.’

A chill raced down Felix’s spine and his voice was a little shrill as he asked, ‘He’s hurting?  What do you mean?  Has he been injured too?’

Hyunjin blinked rapidly at him, bewildered.  ‘What?  No, no, he’s – he’s hurting because of Chan.  Our commander, Chan, he was hurt.  Don’t you remember?  I can feel it,’ he repeated and Felix was _definitely_ worried now.

Not for Chan or Minho, but for Hyunjin.  When he moved to knee in front of the older angel, cupping his too-sharp jaw, Felix’s stomach curdled – Hyunjin’s pupils were much too large, a distressingly vacant look about them.  If he needed any proof that the connection was still open, this was it.

His tone was cautious as he said, ‘Hyunjin... we can’t help Minho right now.  He’s gone to the divine plane to help your commander and your flight-wing.  We have to wait here for him.’

Incomprehension furrowed Hyunjin’s brows.  ‘He’s... gone?  Minho’s gone?’

‘To the divine plane, yes.  He _will_ be back, though,’ Felix was quick to add.

A rapid series of emotions flickered across Hyunjin’s face, none of them boding well.  ‘Well... we have to go to the divine plane too, then.  We – we can’t leave him there by himself.  He’s hurting.’

The last sentence was mournful, pleading almost.

Swallowing hard, Felix replied gently, ‘Hyunjin, we can’t go there.  I’m not – I’m not strong enough yet.  And you’re not strong enough, either.  Minho will come back to us when he can.’

Hyunjin’s mouth twisted, something nasty crawling across his expression.  ‘I _am_ strong enough!’ he cried, voice cracking with disuse, and he shoved at Felix, buffeting him with his large wings.

The push was feeble but the intent behind it hurt like a stab to the heart.

‘I might not be as strong as Minho, but I’m not weak,’ Hyunjin hissed, continuing to try and shove Felix away despite the fact that the younger angel was all that was keeping him upright.

‘I’m not weak,’ Hyunjin repeated lowly, venom dripping from his words.  ‘Not like _you_.’

Felix went still at that, letting himself be pushed away.  He’d known that was coming, knew Hyunjin was just lashing out because his mind was filled with borrowed pain and stress but –

He steeled his spine.  No tears.  No crying.  This was neither the time nor place.

‘I’m going to the divine plane with or without you,’ Hyunjin continued, swinging his legs out of the bed and standing, prompting Felix to dive forward and catch him when he immediately fell.

‘No you’re not,’ the younger angel countered grimly, hauling Hyunjin back onto the mattress and pushing him back against the stack of pillows, wings carefully flattened out of the way.

Panting slightly, Hyunjin glared at Felix, their faces close together.  Felix waited for him to say something more, to strike out again, whether verbally or physically, but the older angel did neither.  He maintained his fixed stare and when, half a minute later, Hyunjin’s eyes began to ever-so-faintly glow, the younger angel inhaled sharply.

‘No, Hyunjin!’ he shouted, shaking the violet-winged angel by the shoulders.  ‘You don’t have enough energy, it’ll kill you!’

But Hyunjin wasn’t listening anymore, his body taut with strain, his breathing growing more ragged by the moment, and the pearlescent shine brightening.

‘Stop it!  Hyunjin!  You’re going to kill yourself, _stop!_ ’

In desperation, Felix took a leaf out of Hyunjin’s book and slapped him, jerking his head hard to one side.  Guilt immediately pooled in Felix’s belly and he quickly turned Hyunjin’s head back towards him, relieved despite himself to see the glow had faded from the elder’s shocked eyes.  Even that awful blank look had gone.

‘You... hit me,’ Hyunjin whispered, fingers coming up to touch his reddening cheek.

‘I’m sorry,’ Felix croaked past the jagged glass in his throat, sitting back on his heels.  ‘I’m so sorry, Hyunjin, but I had to stop you.  You can’t go into the crossover now, you’ll die.’  He took a shaky breath.  ‘And even if you hate me for it, I won’t let you do that.’

_Minho told me to look after you._

Hyunjin’s eyes now glistened with unshed tears.  ‘I want to see Minho.  Why won’t you let me see him, Lixie?  I – I love him so much, I need to help him.  Don’t you want to help him too?  Don’t you love him?’

Each word was another knife through the chest and Felix felt he could hardly breathe through the blood that must surely be filling his lungs.

Gulping down air, he replied, ‘I do love him, Jinnie, I love him as much as I love you.  But we can’t help him right now and neither you nor I are very strong at the moment.  That is why we must stay here.  Please,’ Felix implored, ‘please tell me you understand.’

Hyunjin pursed his lips, not quite managing to hide how they quivered.  He blinked, long lashes parting heavy and wet, and Felix’s heart sank to see his pupils dilated to black marbles again.  ‘Minho is hurting,’ was sorrowful, accusatory response.  ‘And you won’t let me see him.’

With that, Hyunjin turned so he was looking out the window, deliberately ignoring the other angel.  Felix saw a tear streak down Hyunjin’s cheek at the same time he felt one slide down his own.

Silently, the amber-winged angel climbed off the bed and went back to the kitchen, giving them both the privacy to cry alone.

 

 

The days passed by slower than ever after that.

Hyunjin almost never left the bedroom and avoided interacting with Felix at all costs.  He refused to eat and rejected all energy transfusions except when he slept.  His strength was very, very gradually returning, but his body continued wasting away and his eyes were distant.  Often it was like he wasn’t there at all, like he’d gone away and left his body behind, and those days frightened Felix the most.

The young angel was at a complete loss as to what to do.  He hadn’t heard anything from Minho in the three weeks he’d been gone and had no way of contacting the older angel on his own.  Hyunjin was weakening before his very eyes and there was nothing he could do about it.

These were the main troubles weighing on his mind as he left their building to go on another supply run – Hyunjin might not be eating, but Felix was eating almost twice as much as he usually did.  He could only presume this had something to do with the gradual settling in of his angelic powers.

Felix crossed the street and wove himself into the flow of traffic heading toward the markets.  While he didn’t have to worry about letting his wings show here (this metropolis hosted dozens of species, many far more outlandish than an angel), he remained wary – he had no back up if a situation went awry.

However, there was a lot to be said for appearances and Felix was learning that the best way to protect himself was to act like Hyunjin and Minho did when in public.  They carried an air of confidence that bordered on arrogance, completely secure in the knowledge that no-one around them could pose any real threat.  As Felix’s wings still weren’t large enough for flying, being able to put up a convincing front was important.

And, thus far, it had been working very well.

Not so today.

In retrospect, it was a bad idea to take a side alley as a shortcut.  He’d done it with the others before but not alone and perhaps that was why Felix felt no surprise when two hulking, masked figures stepped out of the shadows to block his path.  A quick glance over his shoulder revealed another pair.  All of them were armed with large, toothed knives.

 _I didn’t even make it to the market this time_ , he couldn’t help but think, recalling the last predicament he’d wound up in.

‘Angel,’ growled the shorter of the two men (mortals?  No, they both had hooves) in front of him, voice muffled by the thick red scarf wrapped around his head to show only his eyes.

Felix almost said “faun” in return but paused, gaze flicking over his attackers.  What with the rather singed state of their clothes and the two pairs of short horns on the silent man’s forehead, peeking out through the folds of his checkered scarf, Felix realised these were in fact – ‘Djinn.’

His opponents made no sound or movement in response but Felix knew he’d caught them off-guard by their startled silence.

‘Not with your companions today, huh?’ the red-scarfed djinn brusquely continued.

 _Show no fear.  Keep up the act_ , Felix reminded himself, distantly surprised that he was not, in fact, terrified.  Not wishing to be unnecessarily antagonistic, he said aloud, ‘No.’

A quiet hiss behind him.  He did not look back yet; the djinn who had done the speaking thus far ( _I’ll call you Red_ ) was obviously the one running this show, so he was the one Felix kept his attention on.

‘Angel wings are mighty valuable in the right markets, you know,’ Red said, taking a bold step forward as he did so.

 _Always the wings_ , Felix thought, turning just enough that he could see the others in his periphery and drawing his feathers in as close to his spine as he could.  ‘You would dare to try and take mine from me?’ he asked haughtily.  ‘Do you think mortal blades and the fires of four djinni are enough to fell me?’

Low chuckles echoed in the narrow space and the djinni slowly encroached a little further, quickening Felix’s pulse but, oddly enough, still not inspiring strength-sapping dread.

‘Well you see now, we don’t actually reckon you’re a proper full-grown angel,’ Red replied, satisfaction oozing from his words.  ‘We reckon you’re just a little ‘un.  If you could fly on those pretty, pretty wings of yours, what are you still doing here, little angel?’

That.  _That_ got a response out of him, a shiver of unexpected anger rippling up Felix’s spine.

‘Don’t call me that,’ he snapped.

‘Ooh, hit a nerve did I?  Little angel?’ Red cooed sarcastically, taking another cautious step forward.

They were almost within arm’s reach of him now.  Something was thrumming under his skin.  Red extended his knife towards Felix’s throat.  His heart was going to crack through his ribcage.

‘Don’t move a muscle, little angel,’ Red warned, just as multiple hands reached for his wings –

The thrumming exploded out through Felix’s limbs and suddenly he was sweeping out with his arms, batting away the hands with surprising strength.  In the same moment, he stepped forward, adjusted his centre of balance, and kicked Red in the chest with enough force to knock the djinn back half a dozen paces.

Despite how unexpected Felix’s outburst was, the djinni took it in stride and a split second later were all snarling and there were three knives swinging down and slashing out toward him.

 _Go low_.

The angel ducked and launched himself to the side, the forward-tilted djinn he collided with not enough to stop him.  Instinct gripped him and he stomped the heel of his foot into the fleshy underside of the fallen djinn’s elbow, eliciting a yelp of pain.  Allowing his momentum to swing him around, Felix lifted his forearm defensively – _block_ – gritting his teeth as the arm of a djinn with a grey scarf smacked hard against his, the tip of her gleaming blade mere inches from Felix’s eye.

In a flicker-fast movement, the angel struck out with his free hand, spearing Grey in the gut with more strength than any mortal could summon.  The djinn wheezed and Felix snatched the knife from her slackened grip, using it to noisily parry Checkered’s rapidly approaching blade.  Checkered followed that up immediately with a fist full of flame at Felix’s face.

There was no time to move and djinn-fire burned hotter than almost any other.  The djinn’s fist hit Felix and his body _pulsed_ , rejecting the flame even as he crashed hard into the ground, wings crunching unpleasantly.

 _Get up_.

Red and Checkered were almost on top of him, the other two not far behind.

 _Fight_.

Felix’s grip on his stolen knife tightened and he rolled to his feet, panting.  The ever-present thrum in his blood thundered through him like a breaking wave and he darted forward into Red’s space, putting the djinn between him and the others, dipping beneath a slash at his head and nearly losing his arm in the downswing.  He kicked the inside of Red’s ankle, making the djinn stagger, and used the momentary advantage to seize his attacker’s wrist and twist it sharply.  Bones shattered, Red choked on a scream, the knife dropped.

There was no time to go in for the kill as Checkered was lunging for him, _both_ hands wreathed in flame.  Felix immediately bent backwards, almost dropping to his knees, feathers brushing the ground.

A leg came out of nowhere, sweeping towards his ribs.  Despite being vaguely aware that he was in no way agile enough to do this, the angel twisted (his spine popped angrily at him) and stabbed his knife into the shin with impeccable precision.  More screaming and the leg dropped away with the blade still lodged in it, blood already welling up.  Fists of fire were sweeping down towards him –

_Go backwards._

Smacking a hand into the ground behind his head, Felix felt the thrumming increase sharply again as he flipped over into a crouch, avoiding getting burnt by a hair’s breadth.  Momentarily out of Checkered’s reach, Felix had no chance to pause as Grey leaped over her fallen comrade and slashed at him with two knives.  Felix inelegantly skittered backwards to avoid them.  His back hit a wall and she darted forward, blades aiming for his chest, when Felix’s body – no, his _divinity_ pulsed again.

Not only was Grey shoved back a step but a quarter of the knives had melted away.

 _Feint_.

Felix immediately made as if to lunge right, which Grey fell for, leaving her side unprotected and allowing Felix to kick her in the gut.  With a cry, she stumbled and collapsed.  Once more, there was no time for a definitive follow-up, with Checkered and Red closing in again.

 _Run and jump_.

Grabbing one of Grey’s fallen knives, Felix sprinted past the other two djinni, aiming for the opposite wall.  With two powerful strides, the angel had climbed above his own height and he launched himself backwards, twisting through the air.

He had a split-second to choose his target and the djinni didn’t even have time to fully lift their weapons before Felix crashed into Checkered’s chest, a shoulder to the hulking djinn’s sternum and the broken knife slicing into the meat of his shoulder.  Felix missed the slope of Checkered’s neck by inches.  They went down hard and Felix had to promptly roll away as the groaning djinn’s entire body went up in instinctive, defensive flames.

For the first time in the past thirty-odd seconds that had passed, there was a pause.  One djinn was still cursing and wailing not to quietly as he tried to heal the stab wound in his leg with djinn-fire.  Grey was getting to her feet, though favouring one side, utter fury in her red eyes as she hurried over to Checkered.  And Red seemed to have stalled, stuck between rushing to help one of his injured companions and staring at Felix in shock.

Felix remained in a crouch, muscles trembling with adrenaline as he stayed poised on his toes and fingertips.  His gaze flickered between all four djinni, waiting for one to attack him again.  He was pretty sure something had broken in at least one of his wings but that was presently irrelevant so he put the thought aside.  A more pressing thought was how the actual fuck he’d pulled this stunt off.  And gods above, _where_ was the city’s law enforcement?  Seriously, Felix was well aware of how lacking cities could be in their law department, but surely after the racket they’d made someone would have gone running?  The alley was still deserted so apparently –

An agonised gurgle came from the no-longer-on-fire djinn and Felix glanced over to see Grey leaning over him, her hands at his shoulder.  She lifted her head and glared fiercely at Red, who nodded.  The djinn turned back to Felix, who tensed again.

‘Clearly we were wrong about your abilities, little angel,’ Red said, anger in his voice but also weariness.  Cradling his broken wrist, he began to move towards the djinn with the bleeding leg.  ‘Your wings are hardly worth the injuries you’ve given us, let alone the deaths you would no doubt cause if we continued.  Leave now.’

Felix’s jaw dropped open.  ‘ _What?_   You’re just – just letting me go?  Just like that?’

‘Yes,’ Red snapped, crouching down by the wounded djinn.

Disbelieving, the angel straightened up.  ‘You realise I could –’

‘Report us?  Get us arrested?’  The djinn snorted, no longer even looking at Felix.  ‘We’ll be gone by the time you’re back, I promise you that.’

‘But people will have heard,’ the angel protested.  ‘Someone probably saw and –’

‘There’s more to djinn magic than lighting fires, boy.’

Felix took a moment to place the unfamiliar voice, before realising it’d come from Grey.  The woman’s hands and sleeves were drenched in the blood of her whimpering companion (was she healing him?) and her gaze pierced him through.

‘Leave,’ she told him seriously, ‘and you’ll never see us again.’

Well.  This was not that result Felix had expected.  But what was he going to do, say no?  He was in no shape to attack them and he didn’t really have a reason to.  He also had no means of keeping the djinni here until he returned with law enforcement.

_Press the advantage.  Finish them._

Felix gritted his teeth against the sharp words, trying to quiet them.  Unfortunately, they were disinclined to shut up so Felix had to focus hard on not jumping any of the djinni as he silently continued on his way.

Just before he reached the main street, he looked back over his shoulder and wasn’t all that surprised to see an empty alley.  No blood, no knives, no bodies.  He turned away and slipped into the crowd.

Blessed seraphs, he was hungry.

 

 

Felix got all the way through his shopping and was halfway up the endless stairs to the angels’ apartment when his post-adrenaline numbness finally gave out.

 _Uh oh_ , was all he had time to think before his knees gave out and he dropped the bags on the tiny landing he’d just reached.  His vision blurred as he landed hard on all fours, shivering.  Belated panic and confusion washed over him in rolling waves and he groaned, dropping his pounding head to the backs of his hands.

He could have died.  Those djinni could have killed him.  They could have taken his wings.  They _would_ have if not for –

If not for –

If not for what?  What the fuck had even happened??

It’d been like someone else was in control of his body, moving him with enough skill to keep him alive.

Memories of glinting blades with sharp teeth slicing far too close to him assaulted his mind and Felix gasped, scraping the floor with his nails.

_I should have died there.  Why aren’t I dead?_

Hands on fire, seeking to burn him, hands clawed and grasping, snatching at his precious feathers, hands with weapons, handled with deadly precision –

Felix wavered and collapsed on his side, instinctively trying to cocoon himself in his wings.  They’d been injured during the fight, however, and he hissed as the movement sent darts of pain running through them.

Fiery hands, hungry knives, snarling voices –

The angel whimpered, curling up tighter, his thoughts deafening –

 _I should be dead – they were going to take my wings – don’t want to lose them again – why am I alive – what happened – no Minho or Hyunjin – should be_ dead _–_

_Breathe.  Calm down.  Breathe._

The unfamiliar voice smashed through Felix’s spiralling mental train, the same one that’d piped up in the alley.  He panted as the terrible thoughts subsided, struggling to breathe slowly.

_Calm down.  Breathe.  Think.  Regain control._

Felix latched onto the stern voice, stable ground in a turbulent storm.  He recognised it as coming from within him but could not place –

_Breathe.  Remain alert.  What good is a soldier without control?_

What?

The unexpected question dispelled the final sticky threads of panic and Felix’s muscles relaxed.  Carefully, he sat up, feeling a hundred times more tired than he had a minute ago and a thousand times hungrier.  His mind was quiet, though.  He waited a moment, in case the voice came back, but it did not.  Clearly it had decided its job was complete.

 _A soldier._   Felix blinked, staring at his scattered shopping bags without seeing them.  _Was I a soldier before I fell?_

His memories from that time were foggy, distant, and few.  Thinking about them during his purgatory on the mortal plane had only made the wound in his soul hurt all the worse, so he’d smothered them as quickly as possible.  While the details of the burning of his wings and his fall would never, ever leave him, Felix could recall little else with any specificity.  No doubt they’d come back with time and practise, but it seemed that not all of his memories were content to wait for him.

 _Did I learn how to fight like that?_ Felix wondered, recalling his confident, powerful actions in the alley.  He didn’t remember ever having done them before but if he’d been a solider...

He almost thought about how he needed to tell the others of these developments – but of course Minho wasn’t here and Hyunjin, well.  The purple-winged angel didn’t care about much right now.

Suddenly anxious at how long he’d left Hyunjin on his own, Felix glanced up in the direction of the apartment.  He ought to hurry back.  Quickly, he rose and picked up his cotton bags, taking care not to hit his wings as he swung them over his shoulders.  He wobbled slightly on the first couple of steps of the next staircase but swiftly settled, his body finding its balance.

By the time he reached the final landing, Felix was out of breath.  Seraphs above, he was _exhausted_.  He hadn’t felt this drained since – okay, not that long ago, he’d been rather shattered after pouring energy into Minho and Hyunjin the other week.

_I bet I could eat everything in these bags if I tried._

Shouldering open the door to the apartment, Felix made his way to the kitchen and deposited everything on the table in a careless heap.  Then he went to the bedroom, quietly poking his head around the door just to make sure Hyunjin was –

The bed was empty.

Startled, Felix slipped inside.  Maybe Hyunjin was in the attached bathroom?  But no, a quick check later revealed that it was empty too.

‘Hyunjin?  Hyunjin, where are you?’ Felix called, alarm rapidly building.

He hurried back into the bedroom, about to go and frantically search the rest of the apartment, when something by the open window caught his eye.  Upon approaching, he saw a violet feather sitting on the sill.  An errant breeze scooped it up, nearly carrying it out the window, but Felix snatched it out of the air.

Stepping back from the window, he uncurled his fist, staring in disbelief at the little feather in his palm.  He looked back outside.  Back at the feather.  Could Hyunjin really have...?

On a sudden impulse, he whispered to the feather, ‘Show me.’

Divinity welled in his hand, making it glow.  Then it transferred to the feather, which sparked and a flurry of sensations and impressions whipped through Felix’s mind, momentarily stunning him.

He understood the general gist – Hyunjin had infused his wings with as much divinity as he could spare before launching himself out the window and flying away.  This feather was one of the many that the angel had shed, though most of them burned away to nothing when they fell.

Felix swallowed, gently closing his fingers around the feather again.  He hadn’t known Hyunjin was weak enough to be shedding.  And he’d flown like that?

 _He can’t have gone too far_ , Felix tried to reassure himself; Hyunjin simply wouldn’t have the stamina.

Still, after the morning he’d had, Felix was in no state to be running over the city looking for the other angel.  He needed to eat – a _lot_ – and tend to his wings.  If he started tracking Hyunjin now, he’d be passed out on the side of the road before he got two blocks.  Firmly keeping this thought in mind, Felix returned to the kitchen.

 _Let’s see how fast I can inhale you then,_ he thought, eying the small mountain of food on the table.

 

 

Half an hour later, Felix had barely dented the black hole his stomach had turned into but he felt significantly less tired so decided to call it quits.  He’d also spent a stressful ten minutes in front of a mirror, trying to see and reach the hurt parts of his wings.  Over the past couple of years, Felix had knocked his wings against far too many doorways, simply forgetting they were there, so Hyunjin had whipped up several jars of a soothing salve with healing properties for him.  The salve was wonderful but dear _gods_ it was easier to apply when he had help.

When he nearly dislocated his shoulder for the umpteenth time, Felix decided that would have to do.  Besides, he hadn’t even broken anything, just fractured and torn.  That would heal faster, at least.

He picked up the violet feather again, shunting his revitalised divinity into it.  Likewise imbuing his voice with angelic energy, he said, ‘Find Hyunjin.’

There was a pause.  Then the feather twitched and shot towards the nearest open window.  With a panicked yelp, Felix leapt after it, too slow to catch it.

‘Stop!’ he ordered and, blessedly, the feather did so, hovering just outside the window.  ‘Come back here,’ he told it firmly, holding out his hand.

For an extended heart-stopping moment, it stayed where it was.  A quiet sigh of relief escaped Felix when the feather obeyed, drifting inside to settle on his palm.

‘Right,’ he said, a touch chagrined.  ‘Let’s try that again.’

The feather lit up once more with gold-white divinity.

‘Lead me to Hyunjin.’

This time the feather moved more slowly to the window, as though expecting him to follow.  Felix hastily amended, ‘Lead me to Hyunjin at ground level.’

The little plume hovered uncertainly.

The angel huffed, ‘I can’t fly.’

Logically, Felix understood that he was talking to a feather that was only moving at all because he’d imbued it with his divinity but he could have sworn it was judging him with how it tilted its fluffy end at him.  Thankfully, after an awkward second, the feather moved over to front door and started tap-tapping away at it.  Felix wasted no time in hurrying after it, barely pausing to lock the door behind him before he scampered down the stairs, following in its wake.

Hyunjin’s feather led Felix straight through the city, mostly following the main avenues.  It was a damn good thing he’d eaten as much as he had, for the violet plume kept up a steady pace, requiring the angel lope in a languid run to keep up.  His wings did not thank him for all the jostling, but there was nothing he could do about that.

They bypassed the guilds of the many merchants, the markets, the leisure quarter, the tall houses of the wealthy.  It took at least an hour just to get out of the central city.  Once they were past the surrounding suburbs, the buildings began falling away, opening up into sprawling green pastures, and the feather veered away from the main road.  It led Felix down a well-worn track toward the trio of craggy mountains framing one side of the city.

Slowly, the sun crawled across the sky and, slowly, Felix made his way over and around the rolling foothills.  Thoughts of how ill-prepared he was for this chase crossed his mind and were accordingly banished: how far had Hyunjin flown?  How long would it take Felix to reach him?  Would his divinity or his body give out first in the attempt?

 _Doesn’t matter,_ Felix brusquely thought.  _I will run and climb and walk until I find him.  There is no other acceptable outcome._

But what if Hyunjin was at the mountain peak?  What if he flew to another one when he saw Felix?  The gold-winged angel still wasn’t very strong, especially not after the morning’s adventures –

 _Doesn’t_ matter _,_ he snapped at himself.  _I may be useless as an angel but – what was it Minho said? – not even the swords of the seraphs could compel me to abandon him._

Renewed determination sparked in his bones, kindled in his blood, and his divinity pressed up against his skin, making him glow.  The little purple feather danced ahead of him, tireless.

Felix set his jaw grimly.  _Hyunjin can run and hide from me all he likes.  Won’t change a damn thing._

 

 

By mid-afternoon, they’d reached the beginning of the mountain trail.  There were few trees here, mostly hardy grasses and scraggly bushes.  The path was much fainter now (few people had reason to take the mountain pass when, at the cost of only an extra day or two, they could simply bypass the mountains altogether) and Felix could see it snaking up the steep, rocky slope.

‘Stop,’ he called to the feather, which obediently halted.

Felix approached it and stared up the mountain.  He was so unprepared for this.  His body was tougher now, true, but he was barefoot and in a single layer of clothing.  This was a _mountain_ , with snow and very rough terrain and random crevasses.

 _This would be so much easier if I could fly_ , he thought, anxiously running a hand through his mostly-black hair.  _If he’s up really high, it’s going to take me_ days _to get to him.  That’s if I don’t die of dehydration, hypothermia, or a fatally cracked skull first._

The angel let out a long, slow breath, allowing his eyes to fall shut and his mind to quieten for a moment.  There would be a solution because there had to be one.  All he needed to do was think of it.

What was the most obvious answer?  He could swathe himself in his divinity, using that to sustain, protect, and strengthen him.  Why wasn’t that viable?  He’d run out of it before he got very far and then he’d be really, really screwed.  Could he get more from anywhere?  N–

 _Temporarily stop the becoming process and use that_.

Felix’s eyes shot open at the unexpected return of his internal soldier voice (as he’d decided to call it).  When the voice offered nothing more, he turned his mind to the suggestion.

At first thought, it was a horrible idea and he wanted to discard it immediately – the becoming process was incredibly delicate.  Any interruptions to it could add a decade or more to his remaining years stuck on this plane, unable to fly.  But at second thought, it was an excellent idea – the becoming utilised a lot of energy.  If he stopped it, even for a short time, his reservoir would likely be doubled.

What was a few more years on the mortal plane if it meant he could find – and hopefully help – Hyunjin?

Put like that, the choice was easy and Felix did not hesitate before turning his focus inward, reaching past all his shields for the core of his divinity.  It churned and twisted and shone so brightly in his mind’s eye.  Like this, he could watch it growing fractionally larger, marginally stronger with every moment, sending gleaming tendrils out into every part of his being.

 _Be still_ , he whispered.

The command rippled through him and everything slowly ground to a halt.  The glow remained but no longer was it expanding, developing, progressing.  The effects followed immediately after and it was like getting hit by a hammer in the face.  The angel reeled, staggering as all the energy that’d been diverted into the becoming process flooded him.  His eyes opened and he beheld his body glowing, visible even through his clothing.  There was the sensation of a thousand ants running over his feathers and Felix knew they had been healed.  The remaining aches from his run-in with the djinni faded to nothing.

Felix almost felt like he could fly and he tipped his head back to look at his shining amber wings, stretched open as wide as they could.  They were especially beautiful in the rich light of the afternoon sun and –

_Find Hyunjin._

The soldier voice cut through the giddy haze that’d settled over his mind like a knife through melting butter.  Startled at how quickly he’d become completely distracted, Felix blinked rapidly, running his hands over his face in an effort to bring himself back to earth, so to speak.  He folded back his wings and appraised the mountain before him once more.

The feather bobbed and twisted in the air, shining softly.

‘Lead me to Hyunjin,’ Felix ordered and off it shot.  He ran after it, energy coursing through his bones, wrapping around his feet protectively, and practically propelling him up the steep path.

Fierce delight bubbled under his skin at how effortless it was to run nearly three times as fast as he had before, even on such an unforgiving slope.  He knew instinctively that he could maintain this pace for hours.  No perilous cleft in the ground would be too wide for him to leap across.  No cliff face would be too sheer for him to climb.

It wasn’t long before Hyunjin’s feather began curving away from the narrow trail, heading into unchartered territory.  Felix scrambled over tumbled boulders, cracked ground, and sharp-edged little plants.  He did not bother reining in his glow, allowing himself to shine like a lantern as he streaked around the side of the mountain.

The sun was brushing over the hills in the west when Felix came across his first challenge – an immense crag that loomed overhead, stretching as far as he could see to each side.  The feather, his glowing guide, did not slow as it approached the overhang, so neither did he, gathering and coiling strength in his legs ‘til they shone brighter than the rest of him.  A deep crunching sound accompanied his upward leap, a shallow crater forming where he had pushed off from.  Felix felt a thrill of awe at the sight, cresting the crag with ease and shattering the surface layer of shale when he landed, continuing on without pause.

 

 

Night had enveloped the land in a dark, velveteen blanket by the time Felix reached the top of the mountain.  Up so high, the stars shone almost as brightly as he did.  Snow lay pristine on the ground, much of it having melted away at this time of year.  Imbued with raw energy, every one of Felix’s footsteps was enough to burn through the thin layer of snow to the permafrost beneath.

The exact peak of the mountain was debatable as there was a number of craggy rises and falls.  Felix navigated carefully through these, very aware of his vulnerability up here, divinity or no.  He followed the violet feather as it wended its way out onto a small plateau.  The snow lay thicker here, as the area was somewhat sheltered by the many tips of the mountain.

And there, on the far side of the plateau, wings arching over his head and long ends trailing in the snow, was Hyunjin.

The little plume drifted past Felix’s frozen figure and, on automatic, the younger angel whispered, ‘Stop.’

Hyunjin’s feathers rustled softly as he twisted just enough to see who’d arrived.  Felix stayed motionless beneath the weight of Hyunjin’s stare, heart fluttering in his throat.  After a long moment, the long-haired angel turned away again.  Despite the apparent rejection, Felix was simply relieved by the lack of overt hostility.  He approached Hyunjin on quiet feet, trying to pull his glow in and watching the elder closely for any reaction.  Felix stopped slightly behind the other angel, close enough to be in his periphery but hopefully not to encroach on his space.  He felt a pang in his chest at the sight of Hyunjin’s skinny body curled up into a ball, arms wrapped around his knees, looking out across the plains surrounding the mountains and the city.

As Felix stood there, trying to find the right words to say, Hyunjin interrupted his spiralling train of thought.

‘I can’t hear anything.’

Hyunjin’s voice was a hoarse whisper on the cold air and it took Felix a second to understand what he meant.  Then it clicked and the younger angel’s eyes widened in shock.

‘It’s so quiet.’

The soft-spoken words struck Felix hard, dredging up unpleasant memories of long ago.

‘And lonely.’

‘I know,’ he replied almost before Hyunjin finished.  He hadn’t intended to but – gods, but he _knew_.

Hyunjin’s head jerked slightly and he turned to look up at Felix.  His pupils were still marble-sized but that could’ve been because of the dark.  In any case, there seemed a little more spark in them than the last time the amber-winged angel had seen them.

‘Felix...’  There was surprise and realisation in Hyunjin’s tone now and he looked stricken.

Felix held the elder’s wide-eyed gaze as he sank into a crouch, balancing with his knees on the snowy ground.  ‘I know what it’s like, Hyunjin, to have no-one in your head, no-one keeping you company,’ he said quietly.  ‘I know what it’s like to be alone.’

Slowly and precisely, Hyunjin’s expression crumpled.  ‘I forgot,’ he whispered, horrified.  ‘I – I’m – I forgot.’  His breathing hitched and when he blinked, glittering tears rolled down his pale cheeks.  ‘I’m so sorry, Felix.  I can’t believe I –’

His words were cut off by a sob that shook his shoulders and squeezed fresh tears from his eyes.  But for all the distress this caused Felix, he felt another thrill of relief at the clarity in Hyunjin’s gaze.  The older angel’s words had indicated so but his eyes proved it – Hyunjin had finally closed off his connection to Minho.

Hyunjin had turned away from the outside world during Felix’s moment of distraction, facing the younger angel with anguish bright across his face and stuttering, half-formed apologies still tripping from his tongue as he cried.  Tears of his own welling up, Felix hesitantly reached for the other angel, seeking both to give and receive comfort.

‘It’s alright, Hyunjin, it’s alright, I forgive you,’ Felix reassured, taking Hyunjin’s cold hands in his.

The purple-winged angel tried weakly to tug his hands back but his heart wasn’t in it.  ‘Why?’ he cried, trembling with emotion.  ‘Why do you forgive me?  I’ve – I’ve been _horrible_ to you for weeks, I’m so s-selfish, only focusing on my –’

‘Stop, Hyunjinnie, please,’ Felix begged, inching closer.

Hyunjin shook his head.  ‘I’m s-supposed to take care of you but – but I –’ He broke off, a look of sheer self-loathing crossing his face, and his tone was utterly miserable as he choked out, ‘I abandoned you.  We – we promised _never_ to do that and I just –’

Felix hauled the distraught angel against his chest, carefully wrapping his arms around Hyunjin’s lean figure and squeezing him tightly.  Hyunjin sobbed freely into the crook of his neck and Felix lifted a hand to stroke his long black hair.

‘Listen to me, Hyunjin,’ Felix murmured fervently, his words nearly drowned out by the other angel’s crying.  ‘Listen to me.  It’s alright.  I _understand_ what it feels like, how awful it is to have no-one there –’ Hyunjin clenched his hands in the back of Felix’s shirt – ‘so I understand why you left.’

Because, no matter how anyone dressed it up, that _was_ what Hyunjin had done.  He’d left Felix.

‘You had the possibility of keeping Minho in your head and I understand why you couldn’t give that up.’

‘Felix,’ Hyunjin began, muffled against the damp skin of Felix’s collar but the younger angel interrupted, slightly tremulous as he continued, ‘I’m _not_ saying it didn’t make me upset because it _did_ –’ his voice cracked – ‘but – but you’re back now and I _understand_ , Hyunjin, I really do.’

Neither of them spoke for a minute, the quiet only broken by the ambient noise of the night and Hyunjin’s ragged breathing as he tried to get himself under control.

‘I’m sorry, Felix,’ the elder angel mumbled eventually.  ‘I’m sorry I panicked and just – I’m so sorry.  I never wanted to hurt you.’

‘I know, Hyunjinnie,’ was the soft reply.  ‘I forgive you.’

Shuddering, Hyunjin pulled away from the embrace enough that Felix could see his face, gaunt, pale, streaked with tears, but still so beautiful.  Felix ignored the guilt glittering in those dark eyes as he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Hyunjin’s forehead.

‘I missed you,’ he whispered against the soft skin before sitting back, taking one of the elder’s hands again.

Hyunjin bit down on his wobbling lower lip.  ‘I – I missed you too, Lixie.  So much.’  He sniffed and swallowed.  ‘Thank you for not giving up on me.’

Squeezing the hand in his grip, Felix said, ‘I’d never do that.  Who’s lovely hair would I get to play with then?  I may not be much of an angel yet, but you’ll always have me, Jinnie.’

Hyunjin reared back with a slightly watery sound of indignation.  ‘Not much of an angel?  Look at you, you’re – you’re more of an angel than you’ve ever been.  Your glow is so strong...’  He trailed off, gaze dancing over Felix in astonishment.

‘Ah, yes, about that...’  Felix ducked his head.

There was a pause before Hyunjin asked warily, ‘What does that mean?’

‘Um, well...’  The amber-winged angel peeked up at Hyunjin from under his fringe.  ‘I – something happened this morning and I, uh, I didn’t have enough strength afterward to follow you up the mountain so...’

Worry widened the violet-winged angel’s eyes.  ‘So?’ he prompted.

‘So I paused my becoming process.’

‘You _what?_ ’ Hyunjin yelped and Felix winced.  ‘Do you know what that could _mean_ for –’

‘It’s worth it,’ Felix interrupted firmly, looking Hyunjin square in the eye.  ‘However many more years this adds, it’s worth it.  This was the only way I could get to you.’

Hyunjin’s face fell.  ‘You shouldn’t’ve –’

‘Don’t you dare feel guilty about this,’ Felix said sharply.  ‘It was my decision and I decided that no matter if I’m stuck on this cursed plane for another ten years or three hundred, you’re worth it.’

Felix squeaked as Hyunjin yanked him forward into a fierce embrace.

‘Gods above, you’re impossible, Lixie,’ the older angel grumbled into Felix’s hair.

‘But you love me anyway, right?’ Felix asked quietly, tilting back his head to meet Hyunjin’s gaze.

Hyunjin’s red-rimmed eyes were soft as he replied, ‘I do.’

‘Good,’ Felix muttered, laying his head on Hyunjin’s shoulder.  ‘I love you too.  Minho as well.  I’ll take care of you until he comes back to us, Hyunjinnie, okay?’

A strangled noise came from Hyunjin’s throat and he tightened his hold on the younger angel.  ‘How about we take care of each other, hmm?’ he suggested, sounding slightly wobbly again.  ‘Minho will be very cross with me if I neglect you any more than I already have.’

Felix pinched Hyunjin’s bare waist, eliciting an inelegant squeal from him.  ‘Minho won’t be angry at you so you’d better not use that against yourself or _I’ll_ get cross.’  He sighed, relaxing once more in the other angel’s firm embrace.  ‘But yeah, that sounds pretty good.  We’ll take care of each other.’

They stayed there on the snowy plateau for a time, taking comfort in one other’s presence, breathing more freely than they had in weeks.  However, the air was cold and both angels were tired, so it was not very long before Felix quietly suggested they return to the apartment.

‘Ah.  Yes, um...’

Disentangling himself from Hyunjin and pulling them both to their feet, Felix raised brows at the odd response.

‘Well,’ Hyunjin said hesitantly and hunching in on himself a little, emphasising how frail he looked.  He glanced anxiously at Felix before dropping his gaze to the ground, continuing, ‘I’m not sure that, um, that I can fly down right now.’  Shame coated his words and his shoulders were up by his ears.  ‘I don’t think my wings will be able to carry me.’

_Oh._

Before he could start apologising again, Felix said, ‘Lift your wings a bit,’ and promptly scooped Hyunjin up, one arm under his knees, one around Hyunjin’s back.

‘What are you _doing?_ ’ the angel squawked, throwing his arms around Felix’s neck.  ‘Lix, you can’t –’

‘Oh but I can and I will,’ Felix countered, the glow of his divinity automatically brightening with the increased amount of energy he was expending.  ‘Until I set the becoming in motion again I’m going to be a lot stronger than you, Hyunjinnie, so you might as well let me look after you.’

Hyunjin spluttered weakly but curled in closer to Felix, hair tickling the younger’s arm.

‘And raise your wings before they get caught on something,’ Felix gently admonished.

Wordlessly, Hyunjin obeyed and Felix broke into an easy jog away from the plateau, down the mountain.  Only scuff marks and random melted patches in the snow and a single violet feather remained as evidence of them having been there at all.  Relief and joy at having Hyunjin with him again spurred Felix to run faster, using his energy more adeptly so that his feet barely touched the ground as he sped down the mountain.

_Safe.  Found.  Protect._

The words were a steady stream in the back of his head, which Felix did his best to ignore.  It would not do to get distracted while he leapt over a vast cleft in the mountain and landed on particularly unstable ground on the other side.  At least Hyunjin was a good passenger, seeming to have complete faith in Felix’s ability to get them back to the city in one piece.  He stayed still and quiet in the younger angel’s arms, though Felix reasoned that that could be due to exhaustion.

When they arrived at the city’s edge, the amber-winged angel slowed and firmly reined in the light of his divinity.  Blazing through the streets like a comet would hardly do their low profile any good.  He stuck to the main roads once more and it didn’t take long to reach the shadowy atrium of their apartment building.  Several hundred stairs and three lost violet feathers later, they were at the door of their apartment.  Hyunjin tried to get to his feet so one or other of them could unlock the door, but Felix refused to put him down and no amount of squirming worked.  Thus, Hyunjin stretched an arm down to the lock from Felix’s arms, flushing just a little.

Despite the assistance of his divinity, Felix was beginning to tire so he wasted no time in going straight to bedroom and carefully setting the purple-winged angel down on the bed.  He was about ready to sleep for a week but Hyunjin visibly fretting, rocking slightly.

‘What is it?  Are you alright?’ Felix asked worriedly.

Hyunjin nibbled at the corner of his lip.  ‘Before we sleep,’ he said hesitantly, ‘will you help me bathe?  I want to wash my hair.’

Concerns immediately laid to rest, Felix nodded, smiling gently to dispel the anxious furrow in Hyunjin’s forehead.  ‘Of course, Hyunjinnie.’

The older angel swayed dangerously when he stood and Felix was quick to slip an arm behind his back, helping him walk slowly to the bathroom.  Hyunjin sat on the stool by the tub while Felix started the bath.  The younger was still glowing, so he didn’t bother lighting any of the lamps.

As steam started curling up from the rushing water, he asked, ‘Lavender or rose?’

‘Lavender,’ Hyunjin replied, perking up slightly.

Felix retrieved a tiny glass bottle from by the sink, uncorked it, and tipped several droplets of sweet-smelling oil into the bath.  By the time the water was high enough to be turned off, the scent had permeated the room and Felix found himself relaxing automatically.

Hyunjin undressed and Felix helped him into the bath, the older angel hissing at the onslaught of heat.  After a moment to adjust, he sat, wings draped over the back of the tub.  The amber-winged angel moved the stool so Hyunjin’s feathers had room to stretch and perched on it.

‘Good?’ he asked.

‘Very,’ Hyunjin murmured, eyes slipping shut as he slid down as far as he could, the water coming up to his lower ribcage.  He lifted a hand, palm open, and Felix obligingly took it.  Eyelids lifting just a fraction, the older angel murmured, ‘I have something to tell you.  It’s... about why I reacted so badly to Minho leaving.  I’m not excusing my behaviour, just –’ he swallowed – ‘just explaining it.’

Felix frowned.  ‘We already talked about –’

Hyunjin shook his head.  ‘Most other angels wouldn’t have fallen as far as I did.  It’s always been like this for me, when it comes to Minho at least.’

The amber-winged angel wondered if this had anything to do with what Minho had told him about a few years ago, regarding Hyunjin’s traumatic first years as an angel.  He squeezed the elder’s hand and nodded for him to continue.

Letting his eyes drift shut again, Hyunjin sighed, ‘I don’t think I’ve told you about the birth of my angelic form –’

‘Minho did,’ Felix interrupted quietly.

‘Oh?’  Hyunjin opened his eyes in surprise, dark irises glinting in the soft light of Felix’s divinity.  ‘When was this?  What did he say?’  Fortunately, he did not seem upset at the revelation, only curious.

Felix hummed thoughtfully, stroking the back of Hyunjin’s hand.  ‘It was... a few years ago.  After the incident in the square about my wings, he had a bad dream.  He told me a little bit about it, said you’d landed on this plane instead of the divine one when your star form fell, that you were injured.’  The angel hesitated for a split second, looking up and holding Hyunjin’s gaze.  ‘He said you were both trapped here for three years.’

The violet-winged angel’s smile was very faint.  ‘Yes.  I don’t remember much but... the pair of us were hurt and so we were stuck.  You know how important it is for an angel to be smothered in divinity during their early years, yes?’

Felix nodded, wide-eyed.

‘To keep me alive,’ Hyunjin continued, ‘Minho had to swathe me in his divinity all the time, which is why it took him so long to heal.  He was all I had for three years, not just in energy terms, but for company, support, _everything_.’  With those emphatic words, he looked away from Felix, dropping his gaze to the water.  ‘I wasn’t conscious when we finally crossed to the divine plane but the medics told me later that I screamed when they tried to separate us.  I was utterly hysterical, I couldn’t even accept any of their divinity...  It was months before I could physically bear him to be even a mile away.’

A momentary hush fell and Felix fought to breathe calmly past the swell of painful emotion in his chest as he waited for Hyunjin to go on.

Clearing his throat, the older angel said, ‘We’ve come a long way from that, obviously.  I wouldn’t be able to be part of the first flight-wing if I couldn’t exist without Minho.  But...’  He worried his lip, turning it cherry red.  ‘Like this?  Without being able to contact him at all?  And how quickly he left?’  A long sigh left his lips and he lifted his eyes to Felix’s once more.  ‘It threw me into a panic and – and instinct took over.  I’m so sorry I let it get the better of me and just – abandoned you like that.’

Felix stroked the back of his free hand down Hyunjin’s cheek, the revelations leaving him feeling unexpectedly protective.  ‘I know,’ he murmured, voice a little rough, a little raw.  ‘I know you are.  And I forgive you for it.’

There was a look of anguish on Hyunjin’s beautiful face now, quieter, subtler than his distress had been on the mountain.  ‘I hurt you,’ he whispered, self-loathing dripping from his words.  ‘You cried because of me.’

‘You were in pain, Hyunjin,’ Felix reminded him softly.

‘That doesn’t make it alright,’ the elder countered.  ‘I shouldn’t’ve taken it out on you.’

‘I know it doesn’t,’ Felix agreed.  ‘But you’ve apologised and I _have_ forgiven you.  So please don’t torture yourself over this.  Please.’

Hyunjin didn’t reply, letting his gaze drift back to the no-longer-steaming bathwater.  When it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything more, Felix offered to wash his hair, to which Hyunjin responded with a slightly more cheerful hum.  Felix retrieved the small bucket to pour water over Hyunjin’s head and soon the little room was awash with the gentle smell of lemongrass, blending nicely with the lavender oil.  Hyunjin’s wings needed grooming as well but the younger angel chose not to mention it tonight – they were both far too tired for that.

The water was bordering on lukewarm by the time Felix helped Hyunjin out of the tub, wrapping him in a thick towel and patting him dry, despite the elder’s mumbled protests at the pampering.

‘I told you I’m going to look after you, didn’t I?’ Felix said sternly, draining the bath as Hyunjin wriggled into fresh pyjama pants.  ‘So shut up and let me do it.’

Despite his brusque tone, the angel’s eyes were soft and his touch gentle as he guided the abruptly-silent, red-cheeked Hyunjin back to their bed.  While the older angel tucked himself under the blankets, Felix swiftly changed into his own sleeping clothes before joining him.  They lay facing each other, hands crossing the small space between them to interlink.

‘You’re still glowing,’ Hyunjin mumbled.

Felix blinked slowly, seeing his reflection in Hyunjin’s dark eyes, the little pockets of shadow arrayed over the elder and the bed.  He was enjoying the feeling of divinity flowing over his skin, raw energy buzzing in his bones and he admitted as much.

The corner of Hyunjin’s mouth quirked up in a sad little smile.  ‘You have to restart the becoming, Lixie,’ he whispered.  ‘It’ll get worse the longer you leave it.’

This was true and well did Felix know it.  Not only would the lure of this strength grow but so too would the resulting punishment.  A few hours ago, he’d had just five years left before he could return home.  Now?  It could have gone up to seven or to twenty.  There was no way to tell.

‘You’ll still be able to take care of me without all that extra divinity,’ Hyunjin murmured.  ‘You don’t need that to be strong.’

Felix sighed and nodded as best he could while lying down.  He squeezed the older angel’s hand, quietly beseeching, ‘Don’t let me go.’

Hyunjin’s grip tightened, his larger hand swallowing Felix’s littler one.  ‘I won’t.’

So, for the second time in the past few hours, Felix closed his eyes and dived deep within himself, to the core of his divinity.  It shone like a ray of sunlight through a perfectly cut crystal – strong and pristine and constant.  But he knew it was not meant to be like this and he reached out to the frozen light.

 _Continue,_ he told it.

Like a river bursting through a weakened dam, the core immediately began twisting and spinning and glowing like a thousand flickering flames.  Felix gasped in instinctive panic as he felt a sudden drain on his energy, the very air in his lungs vanishing and his blood turning to lead.

Then there was a hand on his face, in his hair, one squeezing his own hand, a sense of warmth enveloping him, and Hyunjin’s calm voice in his ear, telling him he was alright, he was safe, reminding him to breathe.  Felix clung to Hyunjin as he fought to draw breath, slowly acclimatising to his returned sense of weakness.  When at last he opened his eyes, he huffed out a laugh – the older angel had formed a cocoon around them with one of his wings.  Felix felt a sharp little stab of sorrow, however, at the ragged appearance of the deep violet feathers.

‘There you go, sweetheart, there you go,’ Hyunjin said gently, stroking his thumb over Felix’s cheekbone.  ‘Is it all working correctly?’

The amber-winged angel blinked twice, eyes adjusting to the darkness that came in the absence of his glow.  ‘I think so,’ he replied, a touch hoarse.

‘Good.’  Hyunjin wriggled forward to press his petal-soft lips against Felix’s forehead in a warm kiss.  ‘Now let’s rest.’

Felix’s eyes had slipped shut at the light touch and he smiled slightly, nuzzling down into his pillow.  ‘See you in the morning, yeah?’ he mumbled sleepily, voice rumbling low in his chest.

‘Yes, Lixie, I’ll see you then.’

Unsurprisingly, it was no longer morning by the time the two angels woke, but mid-afternoon.

There was no longer any space between them – Felix was tucked under Hyunjin’s chin, his leg thrown over the elder’s, a purple wing still serving as their blanket.  For a moment, Felix simply lay there, basking in the feelings of warmth, safety, and comfort, relishing in the tangible proof that he had succeeded to bring Hyunjin home.  Neither of them were alone anymore.

Then Hyunjin, barely conscious, mumbled something unintelligible and rolled on top of the younger angel, causing him to squeak in alarmed protest and try to escape.  Key word being _try_ – sleepy Hyunjin had a grip like an octopus and brooked no resistance when he wanted cuddles.  As such, it took some time and a fair bit of effort for Felix to free himself.

When he did, the younger angel blew a cheerful kiss back at the grumpy pile of feathers and blankets on the bed before making his way to the kitchen.  He hadn’t actually eaten all the food he’d bought yesterday (maybe half) so he had plenty of material with which to whip up a large, nutritious meal for them both, making sure to add extra spice to the stew so Hyunjin wouldn’t whine about it tasting bland.  It didn’t take much to convince the older angel to sit up and eat – the scent was strong and delicious and it’d been far too long since he last ate – and then Felix made sure he had every last bite.

‘You need to start putting some weight back on,’ the amber-winged angel tutted when Hyunjin complained that he was full two thirds of the way through his plate.  ‘Don’t make me spoon-feed you.’

So of course Hyunjin did just that.  (Luckily, Felix didn’t really mind.)

 

 

Not everything was quite as easy as that – over the next couple of weeks there was rarely a night when Felix wasn’t woken by Hyunjin’s nightmares, the older angel thrashing and whimpering in his sleep.  Sometimes he cried and those were always the worst nights, often taking Felix half an hour or more to convince Hyunjin he was safe, he wasn’t alone, Minho hadn’t abandoned him.  Felix’s amber wings were just large enough that, if he held Hyunjin close, he could finally cocoon the elder in his own feathers.  That tended to help more than anything else.  Some dreams left Hyunjin with heavy shadows of guilt in his eyes and Felix knew those were the ones that involved him, the older angel still lambasting himself, even if subconsciously, about having left Felix alone for so long.

So it was a very welcome relief when, a fortnight after Felix had chased Hyunjin up a mountain, Minho finally got in touch.

It was late morning on a bright day.  Felix was grooming his feathers on the floor while Hyunjin sat on the windowsill, sunning his wings after a flight around the city.  Thanks to Felix’s rigorous meal plan and insistence on the elder flying every day, Hyunjin was looking much healthier, the glossiness of his long hair and violet feathers back.  He’d even started strength training, which usually involved picking Felix up and carrying the delighted angel around.

A sudden dramatic inhale from by the window had Felix whipping his head up to ask what the matter was.  He saw Hyunjin sitting up very straight, the muscles on his arms and back standing out in high definition as his hold on the window frame became white-knuckled.

Felix opened his mouth to speak but Hyunjin beat him to it, rasping out, ‘ _Minho_.’

For a second, Felix’s heart stopped (was Minho back?  Could Hyunjin see him?  Was he _hurt?_ ) but then one of Hyunjin’s hands lifted to his temple and Felix understood.  The older angel almost fell out the window in his haste to spin around, an incredulous grin on his face as he searched for Felix’s gaze.

‘Minho’s reopened our link!’ he exclaimed, eyes curving up into happy crescents that never failed to make Felix’s heart hurt.

‘How is he?  Is he alright?’ the younger angel blurted anxiously, crawling over to Hyunjin to take the elder’s hands in his.

Hyunjin’s smile didn’t dim in the slightest, squeezing Felix’s hands as he nodded.  ‘He’s fine, just tired.  He can’t focus enough to build a mental connection with you right now, he says, which is why he’s not talking to you too.’

‘That’s fine!  Tell him not to overwork himself too much; I’ll be exhausted if I have to baby the pair of you,’ Felix teased, secretly pleased to hear that there wasn’t any other reason for Minho not directly contacting him.

The violet-winged angel laughed at that, a faraway look entering his eyes as he focused on whatever Minho was saying.  Cocking his head slightly, Hyunjin said, ‘He’s sorry he hasn’t been able to get in touch sooner.  Things have been very busy but –’ Hyunjin gasped – ‘Chan’s recovering!  Woojin’s been glued to his side, of course, so that probably helps.’

Felix made an inquisitive noise – who was Woojin?

‘He’s Chan’s heart-mate,’ Hyunjin explained.  He nodded at nothing in particular and added, ‘It’ll take a while for him to get back in the air but according to Hwasa he _will_ get there.’

The amber-winged angel sighed in relief.  Knowing how terribly worried Hyunjin had been about his commander, Felix had sincerely hoped that Chan would be alright after whatever horrific injury he’d suffered.

A sudden, new concern popped into Felix’s head and he asked, ‘Is Minho safe?  Has he had to join the fighting?’

There was a pause while Hyunjin relayed the question, answering a minute later, ‘Yes.  Minho’s been helping the other second-in-commands’ lead the flight-wing.’  A slightly solemn expression settled over Hyunjin’s face.  ‘It’s been a while since he last had to lift his sword in true combat and it has saddened him.  Still, he doesn’t think the fight will go on much longer – there’s talk of negotiations starting between the archangels on behalf of the seraphs.’

Felix listened intently as the older angel conveyed Minho’s words, halting every couple of sentences.  Then he stopped talking altogether, a distracted smile on his face as he listened and, presumably, replied.  When it became apparent that Hyunjin was truly off in his own world (for all that his hold on Felix’s hands remained firm), Felix huffed a very quiet, exasperated laugh, disentangling their handclasp and getting to his feet.

It was almost amusing how quickly Hyunjin blinked back to himself, delicate brows drawing together and lips parting to no doubt apologise.  The younger angel, however, waved his unsaid words away, his small smile faintly melancholic but sincere.

‘Talk to him,’ Felix urged, starting to back away towards the door.  ‘I’ll be back in a bit – no, don’t look at me like that, I know how much you’ve missed him, Hyunjinnie.’  He stayed strong in the face of Hyunjin’s most convincing pout.  ‘You can tell me what he says later.’

‘Lixie, you don’t have to go –’

Felix raised a sceptical brow, pausing with a hand on the doorknob.  ‘Hyunjin, you’ve been staring dreamily into space for the past five minutes at least.  I shall lose my mind if I stay any longer.’

Hyunjin blushed red as a strawberry, grumbling inaudibly as he watched Felix leave without further complaint.

Of course, once Felix had shut the door behind him, he realised he actually had to find something to do for an hour or so.  Something without Hyunjin.  Something that wouldn’t let him dwell on the faint sting of exclusion.  Felix decided that the creamy, long-sleeved shirt he was wearing (belonging to Hyunjin and falling to mid-thigh on the younger angel) was decent enough for public.  He trotted down the two dozen staircases to the atrium, shaking out his wings as soon as he stepped into the sun to rid them of the water he’d been using to wash them.  The feel of the sunshine on his feathers and bare skin and the warm paving stones under his feet was almost enough to take his mind off the conversation he’d left behind.

 _No moping_ , the angel told himself firmly.  Instead, he considered who in this city he knew that wouldn’t be overly bothered by him showing up uninvited and bothering them for a while.  Almost immediately, the image of a certain cherry-haired witch with a big smile and a bigger heart popped up in his head.  _Seungmin.  Yes, he’ll do._

With that, Felix strolled off in the direction of the apothecary and the young man who ran it.

 

 

In the end, it was several hours and three mugs of raspberry tea later before Felix returned to the apartment.  Upon arriving, he was surprised to find Hyunjin in the kitchen, the sleeves of his russet, open-backed top rolled up and hair tied in a neat tail.  He was humming happily along with a jaunty tune coming out of the radio as he enthusiastically crushed something with the pestle and mortar.

‘What are you making?’ the younger angel asked, slowly approaching.  Hyunjin wasn’t... the best cook in the world and rarely tried his hand at meals without forceful prompting.

‘Felix!’ Hyunjin greeted, beaming at him while he finished obliterating what smelled like cumin seeds.  ‘I’m making a chickpea dip!  You said something about making it this morning but then I chased you out.  Think of it as recompense for that.’

‘You didn’t chase me out,’ Felix half-heartedly protested, watching as the elder tipped the crushed cumin into a larger bowl and started stirring.  ‘How did the rest of your talk with Minho go?  Any word on when he’ll be coming back?’

‘Yep, he said Hwasa intends to let him go in a week, barring any unforeseen circumstance.  Oh, and he told me to give you something.  Did you have a nice time out?’

The amber-winged angel’s brows rose at the quick-fire topic change, but he was most interested in the first piece of information.  ‘A _week?_   Minho might be here in a _week?_ ’

Hyunjin cackled at the no doubt stunned expression on Felix’s face.  ‘That’s right, Lixie, if all goes well he’ll be back in just a few days.’

Felix blinked rapidly through that revelation, delighted surprise leaving him speechless for a minute.  The older angel looked over at him again and snorted, affectionately repeating his question.

The younger jolted out of his reverie.  ‘I did have a nice time,’ he belatedly replied.  ‘I went and saw Seungmin.  What are you giving me?’

‘Hang on, taste this first,’ Hyunjin said, beckoning him closer.  ‘Tell me if needs more cumin or not.’

Felix lifted his hand to dip a finger in the hummus but, unexpectedly, Hyunjin beat him to it, offering a little blob on his forefinger.  An odd tingling coalesced in Felix’s gut, leaving him feeling slightly wrong-footed as he glanced at the older angel for... reassurance?  Hyunjin’s smile was warm and open, his bright eyes crinkling at the corners, settling some of Felix’s sudden bout of nerves.

Felix lightly curled his fingers around Hyunjin’s wrist and closed his lips around the tip of the older angel’s finger, brushing Hyunjin’s skin as he swiped the dip up with his tongue.  He leaned back, looking up through his eyelashes for a moment as he straightened – but that split second was long enough to see the startlingly intent expression on Hyunjin’s face before it was wiped away.

‘How is it?’ the violet-winged angel asked guilelessly.

His heart doing something very strange in his chest, Felix briefly struggled to swallow the hummus.  He cleared his throat, trying against all hope to quell the rising heat in his cheeks, and dropped his gaze to the bowl.

‘It’s fine,’ he replied, fighting to keep his tone normal.  ‘You’ve balanced it nicely.’

There was a pause in which Felix did not look up, though he felt Hyunjin’s gaze heavy upon him.  Then gentle fingertips were under his chin, coaxing his head up.  Rueful apology glittered in the elder’s dark eyes.

‘I made you uncomfortable, didn’t I,’ he said softly.  ‘Sorry, I won’t do that –’

‘Give me Minho’s present,’ Felix interrupted, the words tumbling from his mouth in a near-breathless rush.  He could scarcely hear over the rapid beating of his heart but he had a hunch and he was running blindly with it.

Hyunjin reared back in shock, gaze darting between Felix’s eyes as he looked for uncertainty.  ‘I – are you sure?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ Felix said firmly, hand rising to loosely hold the wrist beneath his chin.  He let his lips part, just to see what would happen, and felt a thrill shiver up his spine when the elder’s focus shifted to them.

Pursing his lips, Hyunjin regarded him a moment longer, before nodding.  ‘Close your eyes,’ he murmured, breath fanning across Felix’s skin as he tilted a little closer.

Felix obeyed, anticipation making his palms prickle with sweat.

And then – a light pressure, soft as petals, against his mouth.  Fireworks exploded behind Felix’s ribs and he tightened his grip on Hyunjin’s wrist, leaning forward into the kiss.  He moved his lips with Hyunjin’s, warm and innocent, whining very quietly when the older angel smiled, breaking contact.

Felix’s eyes barely had time to open and behold Hyunjin’s flushed face before the latter said, ‘That was from Minho,’ and reclaimed Felix’s mouth for another kiss.

This one was a tad more enthusiastic and Hyunjin shifted his hand to grip the younger’s jaw more securely, his other shifting to Felix’s waist.  Felix hummed happily in the back of his throat, both hands settling on the silken skin of Hyunjin’s lower back.  The kiss stayed close-mouthed long enough for Felix’s lips to swell at the attention.  Then Hyunjin lapped at his lower lip, requesting entry, which the younger angel granted.  Hyunjin’s velvety tongue stroked over Felix’s, causing his nails to bite into the elder’s flesh.

So caught up in the delicious sensations was he that Felix found himself rising on tiptoe to chase after Hyunjin’s mouth when the elder broke the kiss.  Realising what he was doing, Felix dropped back onto his heels with a thump, blushing and panting faintly.

The violet-winged angel grinned sweetly at him, lips strawberry-red.  He leant his forehead against Felix’s, whispering, ‘And that one was from me.’

Felix felt his ears burn as his blush intensified and he tilted his chin forward to nip sharply at Hyunjin’s plump lip, making the elder squeak.

‘That’s for the both of you,’ Felix muttered, voice rumbling almost as deeply as first thing in the morning, ‘for ganging up on me.’

‘Noted,’ Hyunjin replied, almost getting cut off as Felix leaned in again for a brief, firm kiss.  ‘And what was that for?’ the elder asked, a little breathless.

Smiling widely, Felix answered, ‘That one was just because I love you.’

To his distress, however, Hyunjin suddenly looked like he might burst into tears, eyes acquiring a gleaming sheen.

Bewildered, Felix raised a hand to cup the side of Hyunjin’s face, stroking a thumb over his cheekbone.  ‘Hey, hey, don’t cry, what’s –’

His question ended in an abrupt yelp as the older angel hauled him in for a hug, squeezing him tightly.  Still puzzled, Felix did not hesitate to wrap his arms around Hyunjin, fingers brushing the innermost edge of his wings.

‘I love you,’ Hyunjin mumbled into the crook of Felix’s shoulder, sounding a little choked.  ‘You know that, right?  With my everything, Lixie, I love you with my _everything_.’

Understanding blooming within the amber-winged angel like the creeping warmth of the rising sun, Felix sighed contentedly and raised a hand to gently tug on the end of Hyunjin’s ponytail.

‘I know, Jinnie,’ he murmured.  This was true – Hyunjin was an honest soul and never more so than when he spoke through his actions.  Any doubts Felix had had about the depth of the blue-winged angel’s love for him had melted to nothing at the first touch of his lips.

Hyunjin straightened up a little, the tip of his nose nudging Felix’s.  At this proximity, he could count every one of the elder’s eyelashes, Hyunjin’s eyes huge and glistening, and Felix’s breath caught in his throat.

‘Can I –’

‘Please,’ Felix interrupted, lashes already fluttering down.

The third kiss was as lovely the others, but with a fragile depth that was present in the way Hyunjin cradled Felix’s jaw, in the surety of their movements as they slowly, sweetly devoured each other.  Felix rocked up onto his toes and Hyunjin pulled him in as close as he could get, heady warmth curling between them.

It was only when they paused for breath, eyes heavy-lidded and slick red lips parted, that the angels realised they were surrounded by a wall of violet and amber-gold feathers.  Felix couldn’t help the tiny laugh that slipped out, giddy with blissful happiness, and Hyunjin failed to contain his own laughter and then they were giggling like children, clinging to each other for support.

After they’d finished laughing themselves silly, Hyunjin gave a faintly melancholic sigh and said, ‘I’d ask you to be my heart-mate now but –’

Felix nearly swallowed his tongue in shock.  ‘Your _what?_ ’

Hyunjin raised a quizzical brow at him.  ‘My heart-mate.  I told you I love you with my everything, didn’t I?’  He inhaled sharply, worry furrowing his forehead.  ‘Would you, um, not want –’

‘Seraphs save me,’ the younger angel groaned, propping his elbows on the counter and burying his face in his hands.  ‘Hyunjin, stop talking for a second.  You can’t just _spring that kind of thing on a person_.’  He huffed, pinning the contrite angel with a gaze in equal parts flustered and unimpressed.  ‘Heart-mates are – are serious business, you know that, right?’

A soft little smile curled up the corner of Hyunjin’s mouth.  ‘Of course I do.  I have one of my own, don’t I?’

Felix blinked.

Of course.  Of course Minho and Hyunjin were heart-mates.  Now that he considered it, that was really the only thing that made sense and he _knew_ that but –  Well, he’d never stopped to think about it before.  Somehow, over the half a decade he’d known the two angels, Felix had completely failed to consciously recognise their bond.

Hyunjin’s eyes curved up at whatever expression Felix was currently wearing.  ‘Don’t fret about not noticing,’ he said, twining a hand with one of the younger angel’s.  ‘You’ve had a lot of things to think about these past few years and we haven’t exactly flaunted it.’

‘Still...’  Felix shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind.  Then Hyunjin’s first statement came back to him and his eyes darted up to the elder’s.  ‘You – you want me as a heart-mate?’

Visibly gulping with renewed anxiousness, Hyunjin nodded.  ‘If I asked – which I’m not going to, don’t worry,’ he rushed to add, ‘but if – if I _did_ ask... would you say yes?’

Felix blushed heavily and dropped his gaze to their linked hands.  ‘What about Minho?’ he asked in a hushed voice.  ‘Wouldn’t he have a problem with –’

‘I really don’t want to steal his thunder,’ Hyunjin interrupted, stroking the back of his free hand down Felix’s reddened cheek, ‘so let’s just say it might have been one of the things we talked about this morning, alright?’

Felix felt slightly light-headed with all the blood rushing to his skull.  The bond between heart-mates was a deeply intimate thing.  Even the mere thought of having Hyunjin and Minho as his own...  Felix shivered.

Peeking up at the violet-winged angel from under his lashes, Felix mumbled, ‘Maybe.’

Hyunjin cocked his head, confusion faintly creasing his brow.  ‘Maybe?’

The younger angel nodded.  ‘Maybe I’d say yes and maybe I wouldn’t.’  He exhaled slowly, releasing the nervous energy that’d accumulated between his shoulders.  Looking Hyunjin in the eye, Felix challenged, ‘Guess you’ll have to ask me to find out.’

One squeak and a split second later, Felix found himself crowded up against the wooden bench, trying not to lean back as a grinning Hyunjin invaded his space, their chests brushing with every breath.  The older angel placed a deliberate hand on either side of Felix, caging him in and he was viscerally reminded that Hyunjin was both taller and broader than him.

‘Oh really?’ Hyunjin purred, a glittering light in his eyes and his purple wings suddenly arched high and spread wide to enclose them in a shadowy bubble.  He dipped his head ‘til the tip of his nose bumped Felix’s.  ‘Are you sure I can’t... convince you?’

Felix swallowed around a sudden excess of saliva, gaze darting between Hyunjin’s eyes, mouth, and wings.  ‘Um.’  Wow, he really couldn’t think with Hyunjin brushing his lips over his chin and jaw.  ‘This isn’t fair,’ he protested weakly, helplessly tilting his head to give Hyunjin better access to his throat.

Hyunjin hummed, skimming down to the ball of Felix’s collarbone which he licked, eliciting a strangled noise from the younger angel.  ‘Are you _sure_ you don’t want to tell me?’ the elder asked, placing butterfly kisses along Felix’s collarbone and shoulder.

Heedless of Hyunjin’s ponytail, Felix slid his hand through the silky black strands of his hair, neither pushing nor pulling, simply holding.  ‘I’m s-sure,’ he said, faltering as Hyunjin grazed his teeth over the soft curve between Felix’s neck and shoulder.

‘Hmm, well, in that case –’ Hyunjin lifted his head, smiling widely at how breathless Felix was.  He kissed Felix’s nose and parted lips, before folding back his wings again.  ‘I suppose I’ll have to wait then.’

Felix sagged against the counter as Hyunjin stepped away from him, still looking delighted with himself.  ‘You’re a complete menace,’ he complained, pouting.

Pulling out the tie and swiftly braiding his hair, Hyunjin winked.  ‘Thank you, Lixie.  Now, shall we make something to go with this lovely dip?’

In the end, they made flatbread.  Well, Felix directed Hyunjin, trying to teach him how to do it, but although the older angel smiled, nodded, and did as he was told, he didn’t seem to be retaining much.  Instead, in between Felix’s instructions, he rambled about all the little things Minho had told him that morning.  He looked so cheerful that Felix couldn’t bear to scold him for inattention.

And any time he really had to (‘I said _coriander_ , Hyunjin, not _chili!_ ’), Hyunjin would chirp an apology and press a quick kiss to Felix’s still-sensitive lips.  This proved to be an annoyingly effective method of shutting the younger angel up, leaving him blushing and giddy every time.

Felix supposed he should just be happy the bread was edible by the time it came out of the oven.  Then Hyunjin insisted they make a picnic dinner out of it, collecting all manner of vegetables and tasty things in a bag with the flatbread and dip.  There was really no time to argue (no that Felix would’ve) before the violet-winged angel was dragging him down the stairs and out into the late afternoon light.

They wound up in one of the city’s parks, perched on a grassy bank by the lake.  There were others in the park too, but they were few and the angels paid them no mind.  Hyunjin insisted on feeding Felix, scooping up little bits of hummus on the bread and topping each piece with a different vegetable.  When Felix tried to take the first one from him to eat it, Hyunjin tutted, holding it out of reach.

‘Open wide,’ he instructed and Felix’s belly fluttered pleasantly.

Leaning forward and bracing a hand on Hyunjin’s thigh (not that he _needed_ to), the amber-winged angel did as he was told and was rewarded with the morsel and a smile.  Felix didn’t remove his hand from the elder’s leg until he decided to feed Hyunjin too.

The sky was clear and the evening mellow as the sun set behind the city skyline.  Shadows melted into one another and people left the park in their twos and threes, returning to the comfort of their homes.  Hyunjin and Felix remained at the water’s edge, admiring the silvery naiads flitting around under the surface of the lake and enjoying the cool air on their feathers.

As the stars popped into twinkling existence one by one and the moon rose, all manner of night creatures, from crickets to imps, came out.  The lake shimmered iridescent as the naiads soaked up the moonlight just as the angels were soaking up the starlight.  Only when their feathers were buzzing with energy did they prepare to return to the apartment.

Then Felix suggested they make it a race – Hyunjin would carry the bag and wait five minutes before flying back while the younger angel ran.

Not yet at full strength, the violet-winged angel eagerly agreed.  He gave Felix a starting mark and the amber-winged angel was off like a shot, sprinting faster than the most athletic mortal out of the park and down the flagstone streets to their building.  Pulse thundering in his ears and every muscle in his body singing at the strain, Felix could not hear Hyunjin’s wingbeats when he arrived but knew he would lose time on the many stairs up to the top.  He reached their landing, unlocked the door in a moment, whipped it open –

‘Oh hello there,’ Hyunjin said, laying the faux-surprise on thickly.

‘Dammit,’ Felix growled, doubling over to rest his hands on his knees and pant.

He half-heartedly glared at the other angel, who was seated nonchalantly at the kitchen table, trying to look like he’d been waiting for a while.  But Felix could see the faint tremor in his chest as he too fought not to gulp down air and the slight glisten of sweat at Hyunjin’s hairline.

‘How close was I?’ the younger angel asked, vigorously fluffing his blond-tipped hair and straightening up.

Giving up the pretence, Hyunjin slumped against the table, breathing heavily.  ‘Really close.  Maybe ten seconds.’

Felix filled a cup with water at the sink and chugged it down.  Smacking his lips in satisfaction, he pointed at Hyunjin, playfully narrowing his eyes, and said, ‘I’m catching up.  Just you wait, Jinnie, I’ll beat you yet.’

Hyunjin laughed breathlessly, cheek smushed on the tabletop.  ‘I have no doubt about that, Lixie, no doubt at all.’

 

 

Five days later found Felix and Hyunjin cooped up inside the apartment to avoid the pouring rain outside.  It had started up the previous evening and now shrouded the city in a heavy grey curtain.  Neither of the two angels were fond of getting their wings waterlogged, so they were stuck indoors, windows open just enough to let in cool, damp air and keep them from going mad.

Perhaps it was due to the incessant rain but the morning had been a particularly sluggish one.  Several hours were whiled away in an impromptu nest of blankets by the windows, limbs intertwined, divinities gently washing over each other.  When the lack of movement eventually started getting to them both, skin crawling with too much energy, Hyunjin did strength exercises and Felix baked.  Well, the younger angel joined the older for a little bit, but tired much faster, his stamina significantly less than Hyunjin’s.

‘I don’t know how you can keep your balance like that,’ Felix commented, sleeves of his backless, olive-green tunic pushed up and arms crossed over his chest.   He leaned a hip against the oven door handle, waiting for the apple-cinnamon pastries to finish.

Hyunjin was up in a handstand, wings held tightly to his back so they didn’t tip him over, inky hair hanging down in a plait (courtesy of Felix).  Every muscle on his arms and shoulders stood out in high relief, rippling with controlled strength at every minute adjustment of his position.  All in all, certainly not a hard sight on the eyes.

‘Practise,’ Hyunjin replied, voice rather strained.  ‘If you were a soldier –’ pause for breath – ‘you’d have learned it too.’

Felix had told the violet-winged angel about his so-called “soldier voice” the other night, which hadn’t put in an appearance since they’d come down from the mountain.  Hyunjin had agreed that it was entirely possible and quite likely that the voice was a re-emerging facet of Felix’s younger self.  Divinity was divinity, regardless of time, so it wouldn’t be unexpected for Felix’s to reach back and connect with his past.

Still – ‘If I tried that now, my wings would pull me down immediately and I’d probably break something.’

Hyunjin snorted, bringing his feet down just as his left forearm quivered threateningly.  He straightened with a gasp, flushed with exertion and the blood rush.  As usual, he wore no shirt and Felix quickly averted his gaze before he was caught staring.

‘What am I, chopped liver?’ the elder demanded playfully.  ‘I’d catch you before you fell, obviously.’

Felix was glad he’d just opened the oven to stab a skewer into one of the golden pastries – it gave him a legitimate excuse to have a red face as he gave a noncommittal hum in response.  Deeming the pastries appropriately cooked, Felix wrapped his hand in a thick layer of protective energy and whipped the tray out onto the wooden board waiting on the bench.  This was a tactic he’d used only a couple of times and, after the first disastrous attempt, it had worked well.

‘Seraphs above, those look as good as they smell,’ Hyunjin said, looking like nothing so much as a bright-eyed, overgrown boy as he crowded into Felix’s space.

Unimpressed, the amber-winged angel smacked Hyunjin’s arm with the skewer, causing him to squeak and back up a step or two.

‘No touching,’ Felix warned, waving the skewer in the elder’s direction.  ‘They need to settle a bit.  And go clean up, you’re all sweaty.’

A slight exaggeration, but there was no denying the sheen over Hyunjin’s skin and Felix really didn’t want to accidentally stab himself or put the mixing bowl in the oven due to distraction.

Hyunjin pouted, tugging at Felix’s primaries, making him hiss and jerk them out of the elder’s light grasp.  ‘I’m not done yet.  Can I carry you down the stairs to the atrium and back?’

A corner of Felix’s mouth twitched up.  ‘Sure.’  They were unlikely to run into anyone late in the morning on such a wet day.  ‘Want me to time you again?’

‘Of course,’ Hyunjin grinned, bending down to scoop the younger angel up, one arm under his knees and the other below the inner arch of his wings.

Felix wrinkled his nose at the feeling of the elder’s slightly sticky skin against his but didn’t mention it as he looped an arm around Hyunjin’s neck, shamelessly snuggling closer.

They left the apartment and paused momentarily on the landing.  Felix felt Hyunjin’s divinity rising to the surface of his skin before being forcibly tamped down – this was about physical strength and stamina.

‘Ready?’

‘Yep.’

‘Go!’

Felix’s lips were still parted on his exclamation as Hyunjin leaped into action, hurtling down the staircases and rocketing around the corners.  He felt his own divinity instinctively rising up, trying to create a shield in case they had to stop suddenly or the older angel tripped.  Not wanting to cause a distraction, Felix restrained it and focused on counting.

Fortunately, they did not come across anyone and a dizzying three minutes later, they reached the atrium.  Hyunjin barely gave either of them a chance to gulp a breath before spinning on his heel and sprinting back up the stairs.  Slightly motion-sick by this point, Felix tucked his head against Hyunjin’s collar and shut his eyes.

‘Time,’ Hyunjin suddenly gasped.

‘Six forty-three,’ Felix replied immediately, cautiously lifting his lashes to see they were back on their landing.

‘Gah, four seconds longer than last time,’ the elder grumbled, chest pushing against Felix’s ribs as he panted.

The younger angel squirmed in his arms, requesting to be put down, but Hyunjin insisted on carrying him inside first.

‘I’m going to need a wash too, dammit,’ Felix griped under his breath, shaking out his wings and tunic, which had stuck to his skin as a result of Hyunjin’s sweat.

Not having heard Felix’s complaint, Hyunjin said blithely, ‘Thanks, Lixie,’ and pressed a quick kiss to his temple on his way to the sink.

Creeping tendrils of affection undermining his minor irritation, Felix started to say, ‘You’re welcome,’ only to get cut off by the older angel choking on his water and doubling over, spluttering and coughing.

Concerned, the amber-winged angel darted forward to take Hyunjin’s cup from him before he could drop it, setting it by the pastries and rubbing the back of his shoulders, making soothing sounds.  But when Hyunjin lifted his head, swiping water from his chin with the back of his hand, his eyes were sparkling and Felix’s brows arched high in surprise.

‘Minho’s entered the crossover!’ he exclaimed, voice still rough.

‘ _What?_ ’ Felix squeaked, at least an octave higher than normal, fingers digging into Hyunjin’s shoulder.

Nodding rapidly, Hyunjin said excitedly, ‘He told me just before he went in, he’ll be through in a minute.’

The elder took Felix’s hand, tugging the stunned younger angel through to their bedroom, where the windows were largest.  He threw one open and they both flinched back as cold rain pelted them, drenching the sill and floor in seconds.

‘He’ll come through somewhere up there,’ Hyunjin said, gesturing to the dark sky.  ‘Best not to do it too close to buildings or people.’

‘Why?’ Felix asked automatically, aware he should know this.

Hyunjin made a face.  ‘Wild energy comes through as well sometimes and... it’s pretty explosive stuff.’

_Do not enter or leave the crossover within the minimum safe distance of other living creatures if at all possible._

Oh.  Felix blinked.  His soldier voice.

Hyunjin stepped into the rain, thighs pressing against the window sill as he looked up, wings unfolding slightly.  ‘He’s here,’ he whispered.

Felix’s heart clenched.  ‘You can – you can go to him.  If you want.’

But Hyunjin turned back to him, smiling his most radiant smile at Felix.  ‘Silly, I’m not leaving you behind.  I wouldn’t be able to carry you safely in this weather so we’ll wait together.’

Swallowing thickly, Felix accepted the hand offered to him again, standing alongside the violet-winged angel.

_Adjust wing and feather angling to avoid waterlogging mid-flight._

That was... great and all, but not very useful right now.

 _Please shut up_ , Felix politely requested of his soldier voice and then Hyunjin was squeezing his hand tightly and he squinted through the wall of water, searching.

His heart leaped to his throat as he made out a swiftly-descending figure and he gripped Hyunjin’s hand just as firmly.

Blue flashed amid the grey as Minho’s wings flared out and he slammed to a halt, level with the window.  Felix had just made out Minho’s face when his mind was suddenly surrounded by an oh-so-familiar presence, flooded with the sweet scent of cinnamon, the crisp taste of mint, the deep sensation of warmth.

 _Hello, little angel_.

Felix heard a strangled whine and took a moment to realise it had come from his own throat.  There was no time to be embarrassed, fortunately, as Minho was already surging forward toward them.  Hyunjin and Felix took a single step back and when the elder crashed into them, they staggered and caught him.

Water and feathers were everywhere but somehow the three angels managed to stay on their feet, arms wrapped around each other.

‘I missed you both so much,’ Minho whispered fiercely.

Hyunjin promptly burst into tears and Felix spluttered weakly as he buried his face in the crook of Minho’s neck, holding him as tight as he could.  The blue-winged angel made comforting noises but he sounded a bit shaky too and then they were all talking over each other, reassuring and reaffirming.  Someone stumbled but, luckily, when they fell it was onto the bed, not the floor.

Minho wound up on the bottom of the impromptu cuddle pile, Hyunjin and Felix both curled as close as they could get.  Minho protested that they were crushing him, despite the fact that he was clinging to them as much as they were to him.  Hyunjin snipped that he was just going to have to accept it as his due and a breathy laugh bubbled up out of Felix, his heart overflowing with love.

The older two paused and Felix took the chance to lift his head, looking down to meet those gleaming catlike eyes, and say sincerely, ‘I’m really happy you’re back, Minho.  We missed you a lot.’

Minho’s breath hitched ever so slightly, cupid’s bow emphasised as his pretty pink lips parted.  He raised a hand, lightly stroking his fingers across Felix’s cheek to twine with the younger’s blond-tipped hair.

‘I’m sorry I was away for so long,’ Minho replied.  ‘And I’m very glad to be back too; the divine plane holds little appeal without my heart– my two favourite people in all the universe.’

Felix’s pulse skipped a beat at the older angel’s slip of the tongue.  He didn’t comment on it though, only leaned down to sweetly kiss the damp skin of Minho’s forehead.  When he pulled back, the elder’s eyes were shining in a way that had nothing to do with divinity and everything to do with emotion, his expression heartbreakingly tender.  He opened his mouth again, seeming to stop just short of saying something.

But then Hyunjin nudged his nose against Minho’s temple, murmuring, ‘Go on, love.’

Minho’s gaze broke momentarily from Felix’s to meet Hyunjin’s.  When he looked back, there was a new sense of resolve about him and Felix thought his heart might really crack his ribs with how hard it was beating.

‘Little angel,’ Minho said, hushed, thumb brushing the younger’s cheekbone.  ‘Felix.’  His tongue darted out to wet his lips.  ‘May I kiss you?’

Felix could hardly breathe and his voice had abandoned him, but he dipped his chin in a nod, small but not hesitant.  His eyes flicked over to Hyunjin, making sure they were all on the same page, and though the purple-winged angel’s face was streaked with tears, the look in his eyes was warm and encouraging.  He turned his attention back to the angel beneath him, who was waiting with bright eyes.

Minho’s hand shifted to cup the back of Felix’s head, gently pulling him down.  Felix allowed his eyes to slip shut, exhaling shakily when he felt cool lips against his own.  His grip on the elder’s waist tightened, fingers clenching in the sodden fabric of his flight gear as Minho’s mouth moved slow and sweet on Felix’s.  He matched the older angel’s movements, accepting the piercing emotion Minho pressed into him, tracing his own pent-up feelings along the line of Minho’s upper lip.

Felix felt a large hand settle lightly on the nape of his neck and he knew it to be Hyunjin’s.  His mouth quirked up into a slight smile against Minho’s, making the kiss a little messier, a little sloppier.  It had been far too many weeks since the last time Felix was surrounded by the warm, comforting presence of these two angels whom he loved and now he basked in it.

He pulled back after a scant few seconds, nose grazing Minho’s as he put a mere breath of space between them.  Minho’s eyes were deep as wells, soft as melting butter, a faint dusting of pink colouring his high cheekbones as his long lashes dipped and rose.  Felix felt that he could gaze upon the blue-winged angel’s small, round face for a hundred years and never tire.

‘I love you very much,’ Felix whispered.

Fine wrinkles formed at the corners of Minho’s eyes as his mouth curled up into a wide smile.  He slid his hand down the side of Felix’s neck to rest on the back of his shoulder, fingertips brushing the younger’s delicate, innermost feathers.

‘That’s good,’ Minho murmured, ‘because I love you too.’

The amber-winged angel’s breath caught, the words igniting a powerful glow behind his sternum and he felt himself flush with joy.  He closed the gap between them, covering Minho’s smile with greedy lips, eager to taste the happiness in that blush-pink mouth.

They were both a little breathless when Felix pulled away again.

Then a rustle of feathers and Hyunjin tucked his head into the curve of Minho’s shoulder, looking up at Felix with eyes brighter than they’d been in a long while, lower lip jutting out in a slight pout.

‘Kisses for me?’ he asked cutely, fluttering his lashes.

So, to the accompaniment of Minho’s delighted laughter, Felix obliged, leaning in to engage in an enthusiastic kiss with the violet-winged angel.

 

 

It was a bright, warm day and the angels were taking a leisurely stroll through an arts and crafts market.  Neither Hyunjin nor Minho had anything pressing to be attended to, so they’d decided to make the most of the good weather by going on a date.

The trio had been here for a couple of hours already.  Hyunjin had tried on an assortment of colourful clothes at one of the stalls and demanding opinions from his companions.  Minho had found a table full of delicately carved wooden animals and cooed over them before inevitably buying three little cats (he’d tucked one in his pocket and presented Hyunjin and Felix with one each, receiving delighted kisses in thanks).  Felix had spent some time admiring a stall boasting beautifully painted and fired pottery (of all the many diversions he’d turned to over the centuries, pottery had stuck with him for the longest).

Now they all munched on delicious pancakes, dusted with sugar and folded neatly into paper cones, as they walked.  Minho and Felix were at the front, arm in arm, while Hyunjin loped along behind them, the bag with his pretty new clothes bumping into the backs of Felix’s thighs when the purple-winged angel swung it a little too enthusiastically.

They paused at another stall so Hyunjin could inspect their glittering arrangement of jewellery, oohing and aahing appropriately.  He held up a necklace for Minho’s inspection while Felix allowed his attention to wander up –

A flash of tan skin, short stature, sharp chin and Felix could’ve sworn his heart literally stopped in his chest.

_Hey Felix, where do angels come from?_

Felix choked on his breath, jerking forward as he coughed and spluttered, feeling a hand rub firmly between his shoulder blades.

_Are you going to be an archangel one day, Felix?_

He tried to drag a breath in just as he coughed again, a strangled gurgle emerging instead as the amber-winged angel fought to breathe.

_Do angels really live forever?_

A sudden, stinging impact on his cheeks tore Felix out of his rapidly spiralling panic attack and he gasped, clutching at the wrists framing his face.

‘Calm down, little angel, I need you to calm down and breathe, alright?  That’s it, well done, just like that,’ Minho soothed, his dark eyes piercing.

Felix sucked in another shaky lungful of air, concentrating on Minho’s grounding presence instead of the slowly-receding morass of old, old memories.  He noticed they were in shadow, realised the older angel had partially cocooned them in his wings to hide them from prying eyes.  One of the blue wings folded back and Felix wasn’t surprised when Hyunjin joined them, eyes wide with alarm.

‘Hey, Lixie, are you alright?’ the tallest angel asked anxiously, gently carding his hand through Felix’s hair.  ‘What happened?’

The younger angel cleared his throat, straightening up, and the elder two moved back half a step to give him some space.  Minho lowered both his wings but kept a very close eye on Felix’s expression while Hyunjin slipped his fingers through Felix’s, giving a supportive squeeze.

‘Sorry about that,’ Felix mumbled shyly, feeling the stares around them.  ‘I just – just thought I saw someone I knew once.  Can we keep walking?’

‘Of course, sweetheart,’ Hyunjin replied instantly, lightly tugging him away from the jewellery stall.

Felix felt soft feathers brushing against his own and extended his own wing slightly in response, allowing Hyunjin’s to slide over his.  He heard Minho offer swift reassurances to the no-doubt concerned store owner behind them before the older angel hurried to catch up.  Minho walked closely alongside Felix, their arms brushing with every step, putting them at three abreast, but he ignored the dirty looks thrown their way as other market-goers had to skirt around them.

‘Do you want to check?’ Minho asked quietly.  ‘If the person you thought you saw is there?’

Keeping his gaze fixed ahead to where he’d glimpsed someone who couldn’t possibly still be alive, Felix nodded.  ‘Yeah,’ he replied.  ‘It can’t – I’m pretty sure it won’t be them but I just.  Need to make sure.’

He felt their confusion but neither angel raised a protest, accompanying him silently up the street to a cluster of large, open-front tents where foot traffic was heavier.  Stopping outside the first one, Felix noted how full of people and racks of clothing it was and glanced at his two companions.

‘Wait here?  Please?’ he asked, imploring them with big, shiny eyes.  ‘I’ll – I’ll only be a minute or two and there isn’t much room for all our wings.’

Hyunjin nibbled on his lip, slightly concerned, and Minho’s brows furrowed, but they obligingly stepped back from the entrance.

‘Don’t be long,’ the eldest said seriously.

Felix nodded and dived straight into the shop.  Being a little short made it difficult to see everyone but he was on a mission and didn’t let it deter him.  As he zigzagged through the cramped aisles with his wings held tight against his spine, Felix quested out with his mind’s eye, combing the area for a mental signature he hadn’t felt in centuries.

So intent was he that he nearly crashed into someone when he rounded a corner.  Apologies tripped off both their tongues as they instinctively raised their hands to keep anyone from falling and Felix’s eyes raked briefly over the person’s face –

_The Hanging Mountains?  Like, they’re actually upside down?_

Tan skin, short stature, sharp chin.

Seraphs above, it’d been so long since Felix last saw Changbin.

Familiar eyes widened comically, jaw dropping, skin draining of colour.  Felix imagined Changbin’s expression of stunned realisation was a mirror of his own.

_‘Felix.’_

The word was barely voiced, more a breath of air from lips shaping his name.

His own thoughts completely inaudible due to the screaming rush of disbelief filling every fibre of his being, Felix found his own mouth moving in response, a whisper escaping him.

_‘Changbin.’_

He twitched as the name left him.  It’d been such a long time, he thought he’d forgotten...  But no.  This was _Changbin_ and Felix would never forget the man for whom he’d fallen.

For whom he’d lost his wings in a fury of holy fire.

‘But how...?’  _How are you still alive?_

There was a terribly tired look in Changbin’s eyes and his shoulders sagged as he took in the angel before him.

‘You fell, didn’t you.’  He did not say it as a question.

A shiver rippled up Felix’s back, rustling his feathers.  ‘I did, yes.’

Golden eyes flicked to the amber wings and away again.  ‘Did you... un-fall?’

Felix felt a lick of something hot and sharp flicker behind his ribs just as his mental connection to Minho opened, the blue-winged angel no doubt having felt his distress.

 _Where are you, little angel?  We’re coming in_ , Minho said grimly.

That was a tone Felix recognised – it was the same one he’d used years ago when he’d offered to burn a square full of mortals on Felix’s behalf.  The younger angel didn’t like to think what either of his partners would do when they realised who Changbin was.  They wouldn’t listen to him, not about this.  Well, they might, but only after Changbin was an ashen smudge on the ground.

On the heels of that thought came the understanding that he was about to do something very dramatic and quite stupid.

‘Come with me,’ Felix ordered Changbin as he closed both his mental channels with the other two as firmly as he could.

He almost reached out to take the other man’s arm but refrained at the last second.

Changbin’s nose crinkled ( _like it always used to_ ) in confusion.  ‘What?’

Felix leaned right in, a hair’s breadth between their noses, and glared fiercely at him.  ‘You will come with me _right now_ if you don’t want to be burned alive.’

Thin brows soaring, the golden-eyed man nodded.  ‘Lead the way then.’

The angel immediately turned and backtracked along the aisle, keeping his head and wings low.  His eyes fixed on the entrance as soon as it came into view but he led Changbin on a circuitous route to it and tried not to move to suddenly when Minho and Hyunjin strode into the tent.  They looked... upset.  Felix’s heart squeezed but he stayed quiet.  He felt them scanning the shop mentally and wrapped every shield around his mind that he could; it wouldn’t be enough to hide him, but it’d weaken his signature, leave them unsure of exactly where he was.

The angels moved further inside and Felix hissed over his shoulder, ‘Let’s go!’ and walked swiftly toward the street.

They would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for Hyunjin glancing toward entrance just as the sun hit Felix’s wings, lighting them up like a beacon.  His eyes widened, Felix’s eyes widened and then there was no time.  The younger angel seized a startled Changbin’s shoulders and all but threw him out of the tent, telling him to _run_.

 _Felix, what are you doing?_ Hyunjin demanded through their reopened mental connection.

 _I need you to trust me!  Please, don’t follow me!_ Felix yelled back as he and Changbin sprinted up the street, dodging pedestrians left, right and centre.

 _Why?!_   Confusion.  Anger.  Hurt.

 _Just trust me,_ Felix begged, before slamming a lid on his end of the channel.

At the first crossroads, Felix grabbed Changbin’s sleeve and tugged him down a side street, and then another, and then another.  Hyunjin and Minho had just about every advantage if they tried to track Felix.  The best he could do was keep his wings and mind as hidden as possible.

Perhaps half an hour later of randomly going this way and that, Felix stopped.  They were in a steep, narrow little alley in one of the city’s older districts, the road earthen and the walls of the surrounding buildings looking rougher, more worn.  A look over his shoulder showed Changbin was still with him, though a bit redder in the face from the surprise marathon across the city.

‘We can stop here,’ Felix said.  ‘If they find us here, they’ll find us anywhere.’

‘And who are “they”?’ Changbin panted, leaning against a wall and sliding down to rest on his heels, forearms propped up on his knees.

With a final glance around (and mental sweep) to make sure they were alone, Felix mirrored Changbin’s pose against the opposite wall, partially unfurling his wings so he didn’t squash them.  His fringe hung over his eyes and he didn’t bother to move it as he fixed Changbin with an unwavering stare.

‘The two angels I was with,’ he answered, promptly following up with, ‘How are you _alive_ , Changbin?’

The tan man sighed, dragging a hand through his tousled hair.  His golden eyes flicked up to meet Felix’s and there was that tired look again.

‘I don’t know for sure,’ he said slowly, ‘but I’m fairly certain it’s because you fell.’

Felix jerked his head up, startled.  ‘What do you mean?  And how do you even know about that?’

Changbin swallowed, looking away.  ‘According to a few disreputable but separate sources, when an angel falls... whoever had a hand in, well, _that_ , is punished as well.’  He peeked up at Felix from under his lashes.  ‘An angel rarely falls alone.’

Felix was having a little trouble breathing.  His lips felt numb.  ‘Who told you that?’

 _An angel rarely falls alone._   He knew those words from somewhere.

‘A witch,’ Changbin replied softly.  ‘Maybe four hundred years ago.  I asked them why I was still alive and... that was what they said.’

‘Did you tell them about me?’

‘No.  I didn’t ask anything else and they didn’t say anything more.’  He took a shaky breath, tightly gripping one wrist with his other hand.  ‘That was when I really started putting credence in the idea that you’d fallen.’

The angel nodded stiffly.  ‘Well.  You were right.’

‘Was it because of my questions?’ the gold-eyed man asked hesitantly.  ‘I know I used to badger you all the time.’

Felix’s lips quirked up in a bittersweet smile.  ‘No.  It was because I answered them.  I said too many things and then my archangel found out.’

‘And... you fell.’

A faint snort.  ‘The archangel charged me with treason and sentenced me to lose my wings.  So he cut them off with a sword coated in holy fire and ejected me from the divine plane.  _Then_ I fell.’

There was quite the range of emotions racing across Changbin’s face.  Felix glimpsed horror, regret, pain, and anger.  Changbin lowered his head, staring glassy-eyed at his knees.

Clearing his throat, Felix asked, ‘What happened to you, then?  How were you punished?’

Changbin didn’t even blink.  ‘Time stopped for me,’ he said lowly.  ‘My hair didn’t get any longer, I never got any hungrier, any thirstier, any sleepier.’  He gritted his teeth.  ‘Everything stopped.’

A quiet swell of grief rose inside Felix as he realised the full extent of what that must have meant.  ‘And you never got any older,’ he said, hushed.

Changbin jerked his head in a nod.  ‘Someone let slip what was happening to me and then it was all around the village and everyone thought I’d been cursed.’  Gold eyes locked on dark ones again.  ‘People noticed you’d stopped coming by and figured I’d done something to offend you.  They tried to stone me to death – you know, like that would appease the angels,’ he said sarcastically.  ‘But my skin wouldn’t tear and my bones wouldn’t break.  It still hurt a hell of a lot, though.’

The grief morphed into something like horror and Felix gaped.

Seeing the angel’s expression, Changbin shook his head, straightening up slightly.  ‘It was a very long time ago, don’t worry about it,’ he reassured Felix earnestly.  ‘I’ve had a while to get used to things.’

‘Why did you come with me when I said you’d be burned alive if you didn’t?’ Felix breathed, heart thudding heavily.  ‘Even holy fire might not kill you.’

Changbin arched a brow.  ‘Because, believe it or not, being set on fire _hurts_.  And anyway, you looked real serious about it,’ he grumbled, slightly abashed.  ‘It’s not like I didn’t want to talk to you.  You’ve got your questions and I’ve got mine, yeah?  Like, if you’ve fallen, what are _those_ about?’  He tilted his head toward Felix’s wings.

Still reeling over Changbin’s revelations, Felix took a moment to find his words.  ‘Well, uh, I was pardoned.’

‘Pardoned?  I thought it was an all-or-nothing kinda deal.’

Felix nodded.  ‘Historically, yes.  But, well, some things happened and apparently my case was reviewed and it was deemed that my punishment had been too harsh for a young, first-time offender.’

‘So you just... got your wings back?  You’re an angel again?’

‘Mmm not quite.’

Felix was very aware of the irony of this situation.  Centuries ago, he and Changbin had had similar such conversations, the human firing off question after question, insatiably curious, and the angel had done his best to answer them.  And now, despite the trouble it’d caused them both the first time, here they were again.  But these questions were ones Felix reckoned Changbin had a right to know the answers too.  After all, they concerned him as much as they did Felix.

So the angel explained a little about the readjustment period he was going through, that it took time for things to settle and his wings to regrow.

‘That’s why there are two other angels here, right?’ Changbin asked, swiftly putting the dots together.

‘Yeah.’

Changbin whistled.  ‘They must be pretty vengeful if they’d be ready to burn me on sight.’

Felix bit the inside of his cheek, glancing up the distant strip of sky.  ‘They’re really not but...’  He trailed off, thinking what to say.

‘Ah.’

Felix looked down to see Changbin watching him like he’d just figured something out.

‘You’re in love,’ the human continued, almost to himself.

Blushing faintly, Felix inclined his head.  ‘That about covers it, I suppose.’

‘Are they from – before?  I mean, is this new or –’

‘This is new,’ the angel interrupted, unable to hold back a smile.  ‘Definitely new.’

Changbin hummed.  ‘I’m... happy for you, Felix.  You deserve to be loved and to be a proper angel again.’

Warmth fluttered under Felix’s skin but he only acknowledged the words with a shallow nod.

‘Do you think,’ Changbin continued slowly.  ‘Do you think that, maybe, when you _do_ become full angel... that I might start, you know, aging and all again?’

The hope in his voice was plain to hear.

‘It’s entirely possible,’ Felix answered after a moment of consideration.  ‘The most likely thing is that the curse has tied your lifespan to mine while I am still flightless.  If that is the case, then it is probable that the curse will break when I am finished becoming.’  He met the gold-eyed man’s gaze.  ‘The only way to know for sure will be when that happens.’

Changbin nodded, looking down at his hands, and quiet fell over the pair.  It wasn’t quite comfortable but it wasn’t strained either.

A thought crossed Felix’s mind and he asked, ‘What’ve you been up to for the past few centuries, then?  I’m almost surprised we haven’t run into each other before now.’

‘Oh,’ Changbin began, expression brightening unexpectedly.  ‘You know I was never one for crying over spilt milk and moping gets pretty boring after a few years.  I travelled around a lot, helped out where I could.’  He chuckled.  ‘You’d be amazed at the ideas people get about you when you accidentally show them you’re immortal.’

Felix blinked at the sudden change in the gold-eyed man’s demeanour.  ‘Ideas like...?’

‘Er, well, I’m the patron demigod of two – no, _three_ separate city-states way out west and there’s a big settlement in the mountains up north that tried to make me their king after I killed a rampaging fire drake for them.’

The angel stared.  Changbin rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

‘You’re – you’re a patron demigod.’

‘Yeah.  It’s not so bad either,’ the human continued casually.  ‘I just show up once a century, slay a monster or some bandits, and they throw a feast in my honour.  You should’ve tried it before –’ he gestured vaguely at Felix’s wings – ‘you got those back.’

Wincing, Felix said, ‘Unlike you, my bones _do_ break and I _do_ burn.  Also, I had two great big scars on my back which made my state of affairs fairly obvious.’  He sobered, unpleasant memories shifting at the edges of his conscious mind.  ‘There aren’t that many people with a kind word for a fallen angel.’

‘Right.  Of course.’

They lapsed into silence again.

Then: ‘So what’re you doing here?  The city, I mean, not right _here_ ,’ Changbin hastily clarified.

Felix shrugged.  ‘Minho and Hyunjin, the angels I’m with, have business here.  Nothing to stop them working while we wait for me to finish my becoming.’  He eyed the other man, perched there in very rough-and-ready clothes, looking ready to scale a mountain or sail a freight ship.  ‘And you?’

Changbin nodded his understanding.  ‘I’ve got a travelling companion.’  He smirked suddenly.  ‘Ah, guess I should call him a friend.  We’ve been following each other around for, I don’t know, three hundred years?  Three hundred and fifty?  Anyway, he’s catching up with family here.  He doesn’t see many of his kind often so we’ve been in town for a while.’

‘His kind?’ Felix asked, tilting his head.  He was glad Changbin had found another long-lived person to keep him company over the years.  As the angel well knew, immortality was a cold burden when carried alone.

‘Oh yeah, Jisung’s a djinn,’ the gold-eyed man said blithely, seemingly not noticing the way Felix twitched in response.  ‘He’s never told me his age but he was at least a thousand years old when he met me.’

‘And how did you meet?’  The closest contact the angel had had with the hooved fire spirits in his entire time stuck on this plane was the other week when a pack of them had tried to rip his wings out.  Not exactly a great first impression.

Changbin grinned, puffing up his cheeks and crinkling his eyes.  Felix was in mild awe at how light-hearted the human appeared to be, how quickly he’d relaxed in the angel’s company.

‘There was an earthquake in this little seaside town I was in at the time and what with the whole can’t die thing, I was going all in on rescue.  Jisung happened to be around at the same time and was helping out too.’  A faraway look entered Changbin’s eyes, his mouth still curled up in a fondly reminiscent smile.  ‘He came across me and a kid just as this great big wall collapsed on us, so he was expecting a couple of mangled corpses when he moved the stones.  I was as close to concussed as I can get and the girl was a bit bruised but alright in the long run.’  He snorted lightly, shaking his head.  ‘Jisung was so shocked.  He hounded me for the rest of the day ‘til I gave in and told him about the curse.  Then he told me he was on the run from his family for wrecking his sister’s wedding and we just ended up sticking together.’

Well, that was certainly a better experience then Felix had had with the djinni.

‘How’d he ruin the wedding?’ the angel asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

Changbin grinned mischievously.  ‘He eloped with the groom.’

That startled a little snort out of Felix, his eyes widening.

‘His sister wasn’t even mad; their parents were the ones pushing for the marriage.’  The gold-eyed man shrugged.  ‘She eloped with her girlfriend instead.’

Felix’s head tipped back as genuine laughter bubbled out of him, only to choke on his breath as he saw two huge shadows sweep overhead.  He barely had time to leap to his feet before Minho’s voice swept into his head, colder than Felix had ever heard it.

_Found you, little angel._

The shadows narrowed as the airborne angels tucked their wings in close and dived, sweeping their wings out again at the last second to land with military precision.

Felix was already scrambling to stand defensively in front of Changbin, who’d barely started getting up.

 _Who is this?_ Hyunjin asked coolly, braid draped over his shoulder.

 _I asked you to trust me,_ Felix snapped.  He didn’t stop his own wings from partially unfolding, neither of the other two having done so – it was, he realised, an attempt at intimidation.

 _You had a panic attack and then you ran away with a mortal,_ Minho retorted.  His gaze was sharp as he met the younger’s.  _Who is he, little angel?_

 _Believe me when I say that doesn’t concern you,_ the amber-winged angel said, trying for firmness.

Hyunjin’s chin went up at that, eyes narrowing.

 _It clearly concerns_ you _very much, which means it definitely concerns us,_ Minho replied.  His jaw was set.  _Once more, little angel – who is the mortal?_

‘Just leave it,’ Felix said aloud.

‘Very well,’ the blue-winged angel murmured.

For a split second, the younger angel made the mistake of thinking that Minho was acquiescing.  Then the elder’s piercing eyes shifted to look over Felix’s shoulder and Changbin gave a strangled gasp.

‘Get out of my head!’ he snarled.

Horror rushed through Felix’s veins and he spun around to see Changbin staggering and collapsing to one knee, fingers digging into the sides of his skull, face twisted in pain.

 _‘Let him go!’_ Felix yelled at Minho, already mentally reaching for Changbin, whereupon he slapped away the tendrils of Minho’s power and protectively smothered the human in his own divinity.

Changbin panted in relief, the pressure on his head abating as soon as Felix interfered.

‘Why won’t you tell us who he is?’ Hyunjin demanded, taking a single step forward.  ‘Don’t you _trust_ us?’

Adding another layer of protection around Changbin, the man now faintly glowing, Felix glared furiously at the taller angel, spreading his wings wider to completely hide the human behind him.

‘That’s a bit bloody rich coming from you,’ Felix growled, hands fisting at his sides.  ‘You clearly don’t trust _me_ , so why would I trust you?’

‘We want to help you!  Just seeing him sent you into a panic attack, he’s obviously hurt you at some –’

‘And if I thought I couldn’t handle it, I would’ve _asked_ for your help,’ Felix interrupted, slashing his hand out in front of him.  ‘That’s my decision to make, not yours.  Besides, last time a mortal hurt me, Minho nearly burned a hundred of them to ash.’

‘But he didn’t because you asked him not to,’ Hyunjin countered.  ‘Why would this time be any different?’

Felix swallowed.  ‘Because –’

‘Because he’s the human you fell for,’ Minho said, effectively cutting the younger angel off.  ‘This mortal is the reason you’ve been hurting for _six centuries_.’

Hyunjin’s eyes widened but before anyone could say anything more, Changbin poked his head out from around Felix’s wing and corrected, ‘I’m actually not mortal at the moment.  Haven’t been since Felix fell.’

The following silence was so heavy that the amber-winged angel thought it was a minor miracle they were all still managing to breathe through it.  He would have shut his eyes in complete disbelief at Changbin’s poorly-timed flippancy but both Hyunjin and Minho were several shades brighter than they’d been a second ago.

The violet-winged angel inhaled sharply but Felix beat him to it, gritting out, ‘Changbin – shut the hell up.  Minho, Hyunjin – I have no quarrel with this human and I am _asking you_ to leave him alone.’

‘He caused this!’ Hyunjin protested, outraged.  ‘He’s the reason you lost your wings!’

‘I’m at least as culpable as he is,’ Felix shot back.  ‘I’m not a helpless innocent in need of protecting here; it was _my_ choice to continue down a path I knew I wasn’t meant to and I paid the price for that.’

Minho hissed.  ‘A price you should never have been asked to pay.’

‘But I did and none of us can change that.’  The younger angel huffed through his nose.  ‘Any debt Changbin owed me has long been repaid.’

‘How?’ Hyunjin snapped, a note of petulance undermining the anger in his voice.

‘He’s been frozen in time for six hundred years, unable to age or die.  I am not a monster to demand more from him than that.’

Minho folded his arms and raised a sceptical brow.  ‘You say that like you haven’t suffered exactly the same thing.’

Changbin lightly tapped Felix’s nape, careful to avoid his feathers, and the angel obligingly lowered a wing so the gold-eyed man could see over it.  The other angels’ eyes snapped to him immediately, mistrustful.

‘Currently immortal or not,’ Changbin said evenly, ‘I am human.  I wasn’t meant to live even a sixth of the time I have.  You angels are designed to live for thousands of years, but me?  Not so much.’

Felix could hear the creeping exhaustion in his words and knew if he were to turn now, Changbin would have that bone-deep tiredness in his eyes again.

Realisation crossed both Minho and Hyunjin’s expressions, stealing the hostility and leaving something akin to shame.  The glow of their divinity wreathing them dimmed.  Felix supposed it was not often they were reminded of the privileges of angelkind by a human.

He wasn’t surprised that Minho was the first to cave.

‘You are right,’ the eldest angel sighed, finally folding back his wings.  He didn’t look happy about it but he said his next words with admirable grace: ‘We rarely interact with humans beyond matters of business and it is... easy to forget how different we are.’  His dark gaze flicked to Felix’s for the merest fraction of a second.  ‘I apologise.  Both for holding you to angelic standards and for not trusting Felix’s judgement.’

_I’m sorry, little angel._

Felix pursed his lips.

Hyunjin looked disgruntled but the glint of anger had gone from his eyes.  He too tucked his wings behind himself.

‘It’s not place to forgive you for... _contributing_ to Felix’s fall,’ he said, ‘which is good because I wouldn’t, but I apologise for questioning Felix’s decision about it.’

‘Apologies accepted,’ Changbin said, at least _sounding_ genuine.

_Forgive me, Lix._

A muscle ticked in Felix’s jaw.

‘Well,’ Changbin continued brightly, stepping out from behind his feathery shield, ‘I think it’s time I was going.  Jisung will be wondering where I am.’

Pulling back his wings, Felix spun on his heel, taking in the gold-eyed man’s relaxed shoulders and faint smile.

‘Sorry about this,’ he said quietly, jerking his head back towards the other angels.

Changbin waved a dismissive hand.  ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve dealt with far worse.’  He hesitated for a moment, looking between the angel’s eyes, then said, ‘Thanks for not letting them set me on fire, though.  That’s really not a fun experience.’

One corner of Felix’s mouth ticked up.  ‘I know,’ he replied drily and Changbin choked.

Before he could leave, however, Minho called out, ‘Wait.’

Both Felix and Changbin peered back at the blue-winged angel, who frowned as he approached them, stare on the latter.  When he stopped, he left a healthy distance between himself the gold-eyed man.

‘I’m no witch with far-reaching sight,’ he said to Changbin, ‘but even I can see this.  It is my belief that it is better to be prepared than not, so, if you would like to know, I will tell you.’

As far as olive branches went, this one was quite magnanimous.

Changbin’s brows rose and he did not pause before saying, ‘Go on, then.’

There was a pearlescent sheen of power over Minho’s eyes, like he was looking at something the rest of them couldn’t see.

‘The sun you circle,’ he said cryptically, ‘is fading.  It will not last long.’

Felix was nonplussed but understanding coloured Changbin’s expression and a melancholic little smile formed on his face.

‘Ah, we knew that was coming...  Nice to have some warning though.’  He nodded his thanks to Minho, who returned the gesture.

Changbin glanced to Felix again.  ‘I’ll be on my way now.  Good luck with the wings and all that.’

‘Safe travels,’ Felix said softly.  He watched as the gold-eyed human turned on his heel and made his way back down the alley.

Once Changbin had disappeared around the first bend, the quiet took on the likeness of the calm before a storm.  The youngest angel felt the gazes of the other two shift to him, earnest and exasperated and concerned and apologetic.

_Maintain control.  Do not become overrun with emotion._

‘Little angel,’ Minho began, only to be interrupted by Felix snapping, ‘Don’t,’ and spinning around to march up the narrow street, brushing past Hyunjin.

 _Felix, please,_ the violet-winged angel tried as he and Minho trailed after the younger.

‘I said _don’t_ ,’ Felix growled, keeping his eyes fixed ahead, pleased that they at least had the sense to not walk level with him.  ‘If I try talking now, I’ll only end up yelling at you both, which will neither help nor make any of us feel better.  So shut up and let me walk.’

Fortunately for their wellbeing and his sanity, they did, staying far enough behind him that their presence did not grate against his divinity.  Felix strode along the little alley until he came to a T-junction, at which point he turned left and allowed the equally-narrow lane to carry him down a gradual slope.  He picked streets at random for a while, anything to distract himself from the anger simmering away under his skin.

_Maintain control._

Only when he no longer felt the urge to punch someone or scream did he start actively making his way back to more familiar roads.

Unsurprisingly, it took a while.  Felix was in entirely new territory, with only his memory and logic to guide him back to the market district.  He relished the challenge, however, allowing satisfaction to bloom in his chest when he finally succeeded.

_Solve the problem.  Do not bring anger into the nest._

Renewed irritation sparked at the oh-so-helpful instructions from his soldier voice.  They were so clear, he could almost hear the original voice that’d spoken them.  And it wasn’t like he’d been _going_ to do that, anyway; Felix was slowly wending his way to one of the city’s green spaces.

The sun had started its descent toward the fragmented skyline of lofty buildings by the time Felix marched into the park, feeling some of his tension immediately dissipate.  He followed the path only a short way before striding across the grass, enjoying the coolness against the soles of his feet after so long on the sun-warmed paving slabs, and climbed the nearest hill.

It was a small one, with a dense cluster of trees on its crown, and Felix was happy to see no-one else on it.  Upon reaching the top, the amber-winged angel ignored the pleasant view afforded by the elevation and approached the quietly rustling trees, trailing his fingers over their rough trunks.  He stopped in the little grove at the centre and let his wings spread slightly as he inhaled and exhaled deeply.  Of all the places he’d been to on the mortal plane, nowhere was more relaxing than the middle of a forest, no matter how small.

At last, Felix turned to face the two angels who’d been silently following him and now watched him with trepidation.

 _Will you tell us why you’re so angry now?_   Hyunjin’s mental voice was unsure, tentative.

Leaning back against a tree, arms folded over his chest and chin fractionally tilted up, Felix said, ‘You two apparently don’t trust me.’

Hyunjin blanched and Minho flinched minutely.

‘I explicitly asked you to trust me and you didn’t.  What do you have to say about that, hmm?’

‘We were worried,’ Minho replied, apologetic but calm in a way that suggested he didn’t regret his actions.  ‘As Hyunjin said, a mere glimpse of the human sent you into a panic attack and then you ran away with him.  What were we meant to do?’

‘Trust me to take care of myself,’ Felix immediately answered, struggling to keep his voice level.  ‘I’m not incapable of that, you know.’

‘We don’t think that!’ Hyunjin burst out, wringing his hands.  ‘Any doubts I had about that were completely removed after –’ he licked his lips compulsively – ‘after you came for me on the mountain.’

‘Then why didn’t you _listen to me?_ ’  The younger angel clenched his jaw against his bubbling emotions, glancing away to the canopy of green, branches and leaves interlaced like puzzle pieces.  ‘Because right now it _really_ feels like neither of you think I can look after myself.  And that hurts.’

‘We both apologised for questioning your judgement and we meant it,’ Minho said quietly, a little less self-assured than he’d been a minute before.

‘For questioning my judgement about Changbin, not about blatantly disregarding my plea for you to trust me.  There’s a difference,’ Felix countered bluntly.  ‘How can you expect me to tell you things if I can’t trust that you’ll accept my decision about it?  Because I won’t.’  He looked from one angel to the other, holding both gazes for a long second.  ‘If this is going to happen again, I’ll stop telling you anything.’

‘Felix –’

But the amber-winged angel was on a roll now and would not be stopped.

‘You _say_ you trust me,’ he interrupted, ‘but you behaved the exact opposite today, so why should I have any faith in your words?  As far as I can tell, _neither_ of you trust me which means _I_ have no reason to trust _you_ either!’

Hyunjin looked ready to burst into tears, his lip white where his teeth were sunk into it.  Minho was visibly agitated, hands fisted and tendons in his arms standing out.

‘Nothing to say to that?’  Felix’s heart was beating so hard he felt sick.  ‘You’re –’

_Thud._

Felix cut off, eyes wide, as the ash tree Minho had just punched shivered and swayed, several birds shrieking in alarm and taking flight.

‘Fine,’ the blue-winged angel said softly into the sudden silence, his back to the others.  ‘I didn’t trust you.  You were upset, I could feel that in your mind, and you were telling me to stay put while you disappeared with someone neither Hyunjin nor I knew.  Someone who was _causing_ you distress.’  Slowly, he turned around and lifted his fiery gaze to Felix’s.  ‘I barely even considered your request; it was irrelevant.  You were _vulnerable_ and I couldn’t be there to protect you.  I definitely didn’t trust whoever you were with.’

‘I don’t always need your protection,’ Felix forced out, throat clogged with sharp emotion.  ‘I’m not as helpless as I was a few years ago.’

‘I _know_ , little angel.  Both of us do,’ Minho said, gesturing to the glossy-eyed angel beside him.  ‘But our desire – _my_ desire to keep you from all possible harm has only increased.’

He stepped closer to Felix, rocking back on his heels when the younger stiffened, several paces yet between them.  ‘And sometimes that part wins out over the rational part that knows you handled four djinni all on your own.’

‘We just want to protect you,’ Hyunjin said in a watery little voice.  ‘I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, Felix, I do trust you, I really do.’

Felix’s heart ached to go to the violet-winged angel and hold him, soothe him, but he held back.

‘Will you do this again, though?’ he asked, fighting not to let his voice waver.

Hyunjin hesitated, glancing at Minho, who shut his eyes and exhaled for a long moment before reopening them.

‘We can’t promise that we won’t,’ Minho sighed.  ‘It’s entirely likely we’ll mess up and think with our instincts, not our heads, at some point in the future.  But we _do_ promise to try our best not to let that happen.’  He blinked twice.  ‘I promise you, little angel.  And... I’m sorry for not trusting you.’

‘I promise that too,’ Hyunjin rushed to say, skittering forward so he was level with Minho.  His eyes were huge and mournful.  ‘We’ll always try for you, Lix.’

That was all Felix could ask for.  He smiled faintly, letting the tension rush out of him as his head tipped back against the trunk behind him.

‘Alright then,’ he said easily.  ‘I forgive you both.’

He sealed his words with a gentle kiss to each of their cheeks.

 

 

Over the following few days, Hyunjin and Minho trod on eggshells around Felix.  At first, it was irritating because all it did was remind him of why they were doing it in the first place.  Then it was endearing, seeing how they went out of their way not to do anything that might impose on his independence.

By day five, Felix was exasperated.

As neither of the older angels were showing any sign of stopping anytime soon, he decided to take the matter into his own hands.  The three of them hadn’t really had a chance to relax and enjoy each other’s presence in the privacy of the apartment since Minho’s return; Felix reckoned now was as good a time as any to remedy that.

So on the morning of the sixth day since he’d literally run into Changbin, Felix lay in bed, surrounded by warm skin and soft feathers, and came up with a plan.  It was a small one, not very devious, but it didn’t need to be.

He waited until they were all up and halfway through breakfast before springing it.

‘I was thinking of doing some baking today,’ Felix said oh-so-casually, popping a spoonful of fresh berry-filled yoghurt in his mouth.

Minho finished pouring himself a glass of chilled apple tea and blinked at the younger in silent curiosity, while Hyunjin hummed around a mouthful of food.

‘Oh?  What are you going to make?’ the blue-winged angel asked, sipping his drink.

Felix smiled brightly.  ‘Not _I_ ,’ he corrected, ‘but _we_.’

‘Eh?’ Hyunjin squeaked.  ‘We?’

Swiping a fleck of strawberry from just below Hyunjin’s lips with his fingertip, Felix said fondly, ‘Yes, Hyunjinnie, _we_.’

As he lifted his hand to his mouth, Minho reached out across the table and snagged the amber-winged angel’s wrist, pulling it towards him.  Felix watched with wide eyes as Minho casually licked up the piece of berry.

Ignoring the scandalised expressions directed at him (and Felix’s rather red cheeks), Minho said nonchalantly, ‘Sounds interesting.  You know neither of us are very good in the kitchen, yes?’

Clearing his throat, Felix nodded.  ‘That’s fine.’

Dammit, Minho was being very distracting, lightly stroking the inside of the younger angel’s wrist and watching him with heavy-lidded eyes (Felix was pretty sure he was just tired, not _trying_ to be alluring but that’s sure what it looked like).

‘I thought we could do baklava, apple pie, and meringues,’ he continued.

Minho’s fingers paused in their ministrations and Hyunjin choked.

‘You – you did hear what I just said, right?’ Minho asked, disbelieving.

Felix’s smile took a turn for the beatific.  ‘Yes, Minnie, I did.  I’m _very_ good in the kitchen and you have to start somewhere, no?  It’d be a failing on my part if, after all you two have done for me, I hadn’t taught you anything in return by the time we go home.’

‘Don’t say that, Lixie, you teach us something every day,’ Hyunjin said, brows twitching together in a frown.

‘That’s sweet of you, Jinnie,’ Felix cooed, leaning across the table to press a light kiss to the corner of Hyunjin’s mouth.  ‘But it won’t get you out of baking.’

The violet-winged angel spluttered that that had not been his intention but Felix just grinned and went back to his breakfast.  As soon as he was done, he started bustling meaningfully around the kitchen, retrieving ingredients and bowls and spoons and the set of scales.  He tried to keep his triumphant grin under wraps when, after flicking on the oven, he turned around to see Hyunjin and Minho had finished their own food and were waiting dutifully, albeit warily, for instruction.

‘Right!’ Felix said happily, clapping his hands together for emphasis.  ‘First things first – go put some shirts on, you heathens.  I’m not having either of you splashed with boiling butter and getting burned.’

‘Sir, yes sir,’ Hyunjin said teasingly, saluting exaggeratedly as he followed Minho towards the bedroom.

Felix huffed in amusement and set about rinsing the apples.

‘Welcome to _Felix’s Kitchen_ ~’ he singsonged when he heard the others return.  ‘Now come wash your hands.  Hygiene is important, you know.  Minho, don’t scoff or I’ll singe your feathers.’

‘What are we making first, chef?’ Hyunjin asked, playfully flicking the oldest angel with droplets and getting his ponytail tugged in retribution.

‘Pastry for the apple pie.  That’s me being kind, by the way.’

Eying the small mountain of butter and flour on the counter, Minho said doubtfully, ‘Kind.  Right.’

Felix cocked a brow.  ‘Apple pie is the only one that doesn’t require very precise timing in order not to completely mess it up.  So yes, _kind_.’

The pastry-making went smoothly enough, the two older angels carefully following Felix’s directions.  While they kneaded their crumbly messes into dough, Felix sliced and cored the apples so they were ready to be caramelised with sugar and cinnamon.  The two balls of pastry dough were then stored in the ice box to chill for an hour.

‘That wasn’t so hard,’ Hyunjin said cheerfully, rinsing his sticky, floury fingers.

‘Apples next?’ Minho asked, looking much more relaxed now that he’d done something well.

Felix tried to keep his smile from showing too many teeth as he shook his head.  He’d successfully lured them in, this was not the time to scare them with what was coming.

‘The apples won’t take long to cook, so we’ll leave them until the pastry is almost ready to come out,’ he said.  ‘In the meantime, we’re going to start on the other recipes!’

This was where he unabashedly threw them into the deep end.  Felix set Hyunjin up with five eggs, some salt, a bowl, and instructions to separate the yolk from the whites so he could beat just the whites with the salt.  Minho was given the pestle and mortar and a lot of walnuts, with the simple direction to crush them into tiny pieces.

And then, the killing blow.

‘Oh, what’s this?’ Felix exclaimed as innocently as he could, opening a small jar.  ‘There’s not enough cinnamon for both the apples and the baklava.  Guess I’ll have to go get some more!’

‘Hang on a second –’

‘Wait, Lix –’

‘No, no, you two keep going, I’ll be back in half an hour,’ the amber-winged angel said blithely, already skipping towards the door.  ‘Jinnie, when the egg whites are stiff, add the sugar and stir fast.  Minnie, when you’re done with the walnuts, boil the honey, water, sugar, and cinnamon stick together.  There’s a recipe book on the table for when you get stuck!  See you soon!’

He blew a kiss at their alarmed faces and made good his escape.  Then, because Felix didn’t actually want to come back to a mess of burning sugar and splattered eggs, he took off running down the stairs.

While at the nearby spice shop, he made sure to pick up some aniseed balls and crystallised ginger along with the cinnamon.  They were Minho and Hyunjin’s favourite sweet snacks, respectively, and would probably work as a reward for not destroying the apartment when Felix got back.  Unless they _had_ managed to do that, in which case the treats would be consolatory.

On his return trip, Felix faintly felt a single spike of panic from Hyunjin but it was smothered almost immediately.  Biting his lip, Felix really hoped he hadn’t made a mistake leaving them by themselves as he sped up.  They might not be great cooks, but that was mostly due to a lack of experience, not a genuine inability to handle food...

Needless to say, he was more relieved than he let on when he finally opened the apartment front door again and everything looked as it had been before.  No fire.  No scorch marks.  No ingredients on the walls or ceiling.

Both Minho and Hyunjin had icing sugar in their hair but other than that –

‘Felix!’  Hyunjin’s tone was thick with relief.  ‘Come look at this.  Is it alright?  It’s making mountains.  Is it supposed to do that?’

‘He used icing sugar instead of normal –’

‘You weren’t meant to tell him that!’ the purple-winged angel squawked, whacking a smug-looking Minho with his wing.

‘I’m sure it’ll be alright,’ Felix began, only for Hyunjin to interrupt, saying, ‘Well, at least I can _read_ , unlike some people –’

Minho reared back and hissed like a cat, cheeks flushing far too pink to be blamed on the heat of the sweet-smelling pot he was stirring.  ‘I fixed it, which is more than you managed –’

‘You still put twice as much water in –’

‘It’s _fine_ now –’

‘Remember how I said both of these recipes require careful timing?’ Felix said loudly, hands on his hips as he scolded the older angels.  ‘You’re going to mess it up if you don’t pipe down and you _won’t_ be able to bring them back from that.’

Chastened, Minho and Hyunjin promptly fell quiet.

Huffing in exasperation, Felix deposited his bag of goods on the table before inspecting the Hyunjin’s meringue and Minho’s syrup.  Neither of them looked terrible and he counted that as a win.

‘You’re both doing great,’ he told them encouragingly, ‘especially seeing as I left you to fend for yourselves for a while.’

From his cotton bag he retrieved a piece of ginger and a ball of aniseed, keeping them hidden in his small fists.  He grinned at the identical looks of curiosity Minho and Hyunjin were suddenly sporting as he walked back over to them.

‘Open wide,’ Felix instructed Hyunjin, holding up his right fist.

Tipping his head back a little, Hyunjin did as he was told and Felix popped the ginger piece in his mouth.  The older angel made a delighted sound in the back of his throat, eyes curving up into crescents as he beamed his thanks at Felix.

Returning the smile, the amber-winged angel turned to Minho, whose eyes were twinkling with anticipation.  Without prompting, he tilted his head and parted his lips.  Felix gave a tiny _eep_ of surprise when the elder tried to bite his fingers as he carefully fed Minho the aniseed ball.  Minho laughed brightly (it was more of a giggle) and pulled Felix into a side hug.

‘Thank you for the present, little angel,’ Minho said sweetly, his liquorice-scented breath tickling Felix’s temple.

‘You’re welcome,’ Felix replied, leaning into the contact.

‘Um, hey, I think the sugar might be burning,’ Hyunjin said just as the smell reached Felix’s nose and he squawked, diving for the stove.

In the end, the syrup was saved and the meringue towers hadn’t toppled yet, so all was well.  The older two were surprised when Felix then whipped out a tray of thin pastry from the oven, which he’d put in before they’d even started apple pie pastry.  That was apparently the sign that the small window of time for the meringue and the baklava had opened and the kitchen was abruptly a whirlwind of hasty hands, hurried instructions, and elevated heartrates.

The meringues went in the oven without a hitch, bar the tip of Minho’s wing getting caught in the door.  Despite his effusive swearing, little real harm was done, although he did threaten to shove Hyunjin inside.  After this incident, the baklava was finished smoothly and left to cool and set in its pan.

Both Hyunjin and Minho breathed a sigh of relief and Felix pointed them in the direction of the rest of the sweets he’d bought for them.  While they fell upon the sugary treats with the restraint of overexcited children, he whipped the pie pastry out of the ice box and got the apples caramelising.

‘Do you want an extra pair of hands over there?’ Minho asked, perched on the edge of the kitchen table rather than a chair, munching on aniseed balls.

‘No, no,’ Felix said cheerily, moving faster now that he wasn’t sharing the space with two other pairs of wings.  ‘You guys have done marvellously.  I’ll take care of the pie while we wait for the meringues and baklava to finish, hmm?’

While he bustled around assembling the pie, Hyunjin dragged Minho into a discussion about the differences between food on the mortal plane and on the divine plane.  With angels getting much of their nourishment from the ever-flowing divinity on their plane, the options for physical food were greatly reduced and consumed for pleasure rather than necessity.

Despite the rambling conversation they were having, Felix felt the older angels following him with their gazes.  He was pleased to note, on the brief occasions when he sneaked a glance in their direction, that there was no sign of the wary, hesitant look in their eyes.  His motive for today had been to distract them thoroughly enough that they forgot to step lightly, carefully around him and it would seem he’d succeeded.

At last the pie was in the oven too and Felix could flop onto a chair, wings sprawled behind him.

‘There’s nothing quite as attractive as watching someone who knows what they’re doing do it well,’ Hyunjin noted slyly, smiling widely over at the younger angel.

Felix returned the grin, humming happily.  ‘I’m not the only one who’s done well this morning.  Just wait ‘til everything’s ready to be eaten – nothing beats trying your own cooking and having it taste good.’

‘Come get a treat anyway,’ Minho said, holding up an aniseed ball.

Perking up, Felix rolled onto his feet again and moved over to Minho’s side of the table, stepping between the elder’s knees and placing his small hands on Minho’s thighs.  Felix leaned forward and opened his mouth, still managing a teasing smile as he did so.

But Minho did not give Felix the sticky sweet, instead placing it between his own front teeth, a challenging twinkle in his bright eyes.

The amber-winged angel blinked, surprised only for a moment, before he huffed a laugh, squeezing the firm muscle under his hands.  Then he dipped down and tilted his head, lips brushing over Minho’s as he curled his tongue around the treat – only to have it disappear, Minho sucking it further into his mouth.

The older angel snickered at Felix’s squeak of distress and then the younger shut him up by sealing their mouths, one hand coming up to cup Minho’s sharp jaw.  Felix swept his tongue over Minho’s lips, nipping at the lower one when the elder playfully denied him entrance.  He took his time exploring Minho’s mouth, savouring the feeling of the older angel sighing into his mouth and relaxing against him, hands settled on Felix’s waist.

Air was rapidly becoming a pressing matter, however, so Felix tightened his grip on Minho’s jaw, holding him in place as he scooped up the aniseed ball with his tongue and slipped it into his own mouth.  His lips parted from Minho’s with a soft, intimate sound and Felix grinned at the faint whine that ghosted between them for a second, before Minho swallowed it down.

‘Enjoy your treat,’ Minho murmured, watching Felix with heavy-lidded eyes.

Affectionately bumping their noses together, the younger angel said just as quietly, ‘I will.’

‘Mmm, that was nice,’ Hyunjin purred.  ‘You two look so pretty together.’

Felix glanced over to see the purple-winged angel with an elbow propped up on the table, watching them with a lazy smile which widened when Felix met his gaze.  Warmth uncurled through the younger angel’s body and with one last peck on the lips for Minho, he disentangled himself from the elder.

‘Oh yeah?’  Felix grinned and shamelessly straddled Hyunjin’s lap, draping his arms around Hyunjin’s neck.  ‘This from the prettiest angel under the sky?’

Hyunjin scoffed.  ‘Like you can talk, Mr Sun-Kissed.’  He stroked the backs of his fingers over one freckled cheek before linking his hands behind Felix’s back.

‘Making _me_ the luckiest person alive, angelic or otherwise,’ Minho interjected, leaning back on his hands and looking very much like the cat that got the cream.

Felix’s delighted laugh broke off with a startled giggle when Hyunjin nuzzled against his throat, ghosting his mouth over the thin skin.  The younger angel slid a hand into Hyunjin’s hair, loosely holding him in place, and felt Hyunjin’s lips curve into a smile as he feathered kisses down the side of Felix’s neck.

Hyunjin lifted his head and kissed the tip of Felix’s nose, declaring brightly, ‘You taste as sweet as you look.’

Accidentally crunching down on his aniseed ball, the amber-winged angel blushed.  He should’ve been used to the ridiculous things Hyunjin said by now but he really wasn’t.

Still, at least he had some practise dealing with it – ‘Must be nearly as sweet as you then,’ he countered.

Hyunjin spluttered but Felix cut him off before he could work himself up by leaning in and kissing him square on the mouth.  The violet-winged angel hummed, returning the kiss immediately, always happy to share tactile affection.  He pulled Felix closer, their chests pressed together as they sipped at each other’s mouths, slow and sensual.

When they parted for breath, pulses thundering in their ears, Minho hopped off the table, coming over to them.  The younger angels looked up at him, soft and welcoming, and he grinned before tugging on Hyunjin’s ponytail to tip his head back, bending down to kiss him firmly.  His other hand curled around Felix’s nape, squeezing gently.

All these kisses in the past few minutes already had Felix flooded with warmth but now he was near dizzy with a heady kind of tenderness.  He watched the angels who held his heart and understood what Hyunjin meant when he’d said Felix and Minho looked pretty together.  Pressed so close to one another, Hyunjin and Minho were beautiful.  The younger arched up into the contact, one hand on the elder’s jaw and the other firm against Felix’s spine, while Minho curved down to meet him, strong and graceful.

Or maybe Felix was just really, really in love.  In love with long eyelashes and sharp jawlines, silken hair and soft lips, glittering earrings and wings the colour of the twilight.

 _That’s probably it,_ he thought faintly, as Minho broke the kiss, straightening up.

 _What’s probably it, little angel?_ the blue-winged angel asked.

Felix jolted in surprise then flushed, dropping his gaze.  _Um._

Hyunjin chuckled, breathy and light, nudging the younger’s chin back up with two gentle fingertips.  _What were you thinking so loudly over there, hmm?_

Well, it wasn’t like they didn’t _know_ already.

 _Oh, y’know_ , he said faux-casually.  _Usual things, like how deeply, madly, truly in love with you both I am._

Hyunjin inhaled sharply and Minho made a strangled noise, his grip on Felix’s nape momentarily tightening.

 _You shouldn’t be allowed to_ think _if you’re going to startle us with things like that all the time,_ Hyunjin lamented.

‘I could say it out loud if you –’

Minho swooped down and interrupted him with a kiss, simultaneously saying threateningly, _We’ll just have to keep your mouth otherwise occupied then._

 _That sounds nice_ , Felix replied distractedly, lifting a hand to hook his fingers in the loose collar of Minho’s top.

‘Still love you though,’ he murmured against the older angel’s lips, pulling back only a fraction.  _Don’t have to say it for it to be true._

Hyunjin’s arms wrapped around Felix’s waist, brushing the underside of his wings.  _We love you too, Felix._

Minho stroked his thumb over the younger’s cheekbone, his eyes so soft.  _That we do_ , he agreed. _We deeply, madly, truly do._

Felix hummed happily and tilted his chin up for another kiss, petting Hyunjin’s shoulders as he did so.

_SCREE!_

The sudden shrieking of the timer going off startled them rather badly – Hyunjin yelped loudly and Felix nearly fell off his lap, also managing to accidentally headbutting Minho, who hissed and recoiled.

‘The apple pie!’ Felix exclaimed, briefly struggling to remember what they’d been doing before the kisses had started.

He scrambled off Hyunjin’s lap but managed to get his foot caught over Hyunjin’s thigh and wobbled alarmingly.  The older angel quickly tried to help him but stood as he did so, inadvertently sending Felix sprawling across the floor.

Stunned silence prevailed for a moment, bar the whirring of the oven and the incessant squealing from the timer.  Hyunjin blinked down at Felix, frozen in shock, and Felix blinked back up at him, bewildered as to how he’d ended up down here.

Then Minho burst into peals of laughter, eyes curving up and crinkling at the corners, leaning on the back of Hyunjin’s chair for support.

‘The looks on your _faces!_ ’ he cackled when the other two looked at him in askance, instinctive smiles tugging at their own mouths.

Felix huffed and pushed himself to his feet, shaking out his wings.  ‘How rude,’ he sniffed, smacking the timer to shut it up.

By the time he’d whipped the pie out of the oven, placed it on a wooden board, and skewered it to make sure it was done all the way through, Minho had more or less gotten himself under control.  He and Hyunjin crowded around Felix to inspect the pie, making appropriate sounds of interest.

‘Do we need to check the meringues yet?’ Hyunjin asked, crouching down to look through the little window in the oven door after Felix batted his wandering fingers away from the steaming pie.

‘Nope, they’ll be another three quarters of an hour.  Same with the baklava,’ he added as Minho inspected his pan that’d been left to cool on the bench.  ‘That needs to set for a while.’

‘How about we go flying while we wait, then?’ Hyunjin suddenly suggested, pirouetting towards the door.  ‘It’s been a while since we last did that.’

Minho brightened, no doubt eager at the prospect of some exercise and he looked to Felix.  ‘You up for that, little angel?  Your wings could probably do with the stretch too.’

‘Yes!’  Felix loved it when they took him flying and would take any opportunity he could to get in the air.  ‘We have to be back in time, okay?  Or the meringues will burn and make a serious mess.’

‘Of course!  I worked hard on those, I don’t want them to burn,’ Hyunjin said, bouncing out of the kitchen through the main room to their bedroom.  ‘C’mon, c’mon!’

Sharing a fond glance, Minho and Felix hurried after their more eager partner.  They reached the bedroom and one of the huge windows was wide open, no sign of purple wings.

‘So impatient,’ Minho tsked lightly, shaking his head, before asking the younger, ‘How do you want to fly today?’

‘Hmm.’  Felix walked right up to him so their chests brushed with every breath and looped his arms around Minho’s neck.  ‘Like this.’

The blue-winged angel smiled and hugged Felix close.  ‘Up you jump then.’

Felix rolled onto his toes, tensed, and jumped, wrapping his legs about Minho’s waist, ankles hooked.  Minho’s smile widened and he carefully climbed onto the window sill, adjusting for the extra weight, while Felix kept his wings tight to his spine.

‘Ready?’

Adrenaline flowed thick and fast through Felix’s veins and he tucked his head against Minho’s collar, heart pattering like a frightened rabbit behind his ribs.

‘Always,’ he replied and Minho fell.

The fall was exhilarating.  Six hundred years had failed to beat mortal survival instincts into Felix, so he felt no fear, only fierce excitement.  Minho let them fall longer than he usually did, no doubt leaving it to the very last second before snapping out his wings and sending them soaring up again.  Felix heard Hyunjin whooping somewhere up above and resisted the gut-deep urge to extend his own wings, take flight on his own.

 _Not yet, not yet_ , he placated his raging instincts.

Minho slowed their ascent and Felix lifted his head, leaning back in the elder’s hold to look around.  He saw the city, sprawling like a textured blanket over the land far beneath them, the empty plains on one side and the snow-capped mountains rising high to the other.

 _I can’t wait for us to be able to play chicken,_ came Hyunjin’s mental voice as he swooped over to them, hair loose and long.

 _You’ve never won that against me,_ Minho scoffed.  _What makes you think you’ll be able to win when Felix is in the game too?_

Hyunjin stuck his tongue out and did a lazy backflip, the wind from his powerful wingbeats fluttering through Felix’s hair.  _It’s not always about_ winning _, Minho_ , he retorted.  _The rush of hurtling towards the ground at high speeds is enough for some of us._

 _Well that sounds like a challenge to me,_ Felix interjected, wings rustling irritably against his back.  _And I can’t_ wait _to take you both up on it._

Minho noticed how antsy Felix was and his brows drew together.   _Shall we get flying, hmm?  Work some of that energy out._

 _Yes, please,_ the amber-winged angel said, relieved.  _Let’s check out the mountains, they’re fun._

 _Ooh, we can have another snow fight!_ Hyunjin cheered, darting ahead of them.

 _I still owe you for the time you pushed me off the mountaintop,_ Minho growled at the violet-winged angel, surging after him.

Felix laughed aloud and the chase was on.

(They did not make it back in time for the meringues.)

 

 

 

Felix woke before dawn.

He was warm and content, snuggled in Hyunjin’s embrace, two layers of wings cocooning him.  For a time, he simply lay there, skirting the edge of sleep and distantly sensing the world around him rise to consciousness with the coming of the sun.

At some point, he realised he was more awake than asleep and then his feathers started to itch, shifting and trying to unfurl.

Extracting himself from the middle of the tangled cuddle pile without properly waking Minho or Hyunjin up was quite a challenge, but Felix had had a fair bit of practise over the years.  Slow movements, patience, and whispered reassurances that yes, he was coming back in a minute (whether or not this was true) were they keys to success.  Today was a good day – it took him only seven minutes to achieve freedom.  Casting a pleased eye over the bed, he watched Hyunjin, barely conscious, wiggle towards Minho, who slung and a wing over the younger angel and buried his face in Hyunjin’s long hair.

A little smile flitting over his mouth, Felix padded on quiet feet to the bedroom’s bay window.  Summer was in the air again so the windows had been left open overnight, filling the room with the smell of the lake.  He hopped up onto the cushioned bench seat and climbed out onto the window sill.  Muscles bunched in his shoulders and abdomen as he scrambled up the outside wall to the gently sloping roof.

His pulse going at a steady clip but not panting, Felix carefully made his way across the slate tiles in the gloom to the roof’s peak.  He crouched down, one hand on the tiles for balance, and extended his wings, sighing in relief as the cool morning air soothed the itchiness.  They were as large as Minho and Hyunjin’s wings now and the feathers had lightened from amber to pale gold, reminiscent of the pearlescent hue his hair had been for centuries.  Happily, that at least was completely black now.

Despite the fact the sun was nowhere near risen this deep in the mountains, the world still shrouded in long shadows, Felix saw lights on in many of the houses nearest the immense lake.  Boats were being unmoored from the jetties and fishermen were scuttling to and fro with their lanterns and nets.  Few birds were awake so early, but as ever the alpine cormorant was opportunistic and Felix could spot them swooping low in search of scraps.

After the flurry of little boats had left and disappeared into the mist, a lull fell.  This was the quiet time before everyone else rose to start their day and Felix basked in it, unafraid of being seen.

At last, he stood, stretching his legs and unfurling his wings to their furthest extent.  He went to fold them in again but paused.  There was an odd sensation running through them, like the muscles were aching not from too much use but from too _little_.  He opened them once more, like he was about to fly, and felt every one of his feathers _thrum_ with pent-up energy.

Felix’s breath caught.

_Surely not..._

Slowly beating his wings like he did for his strength exercises, he felt the thrum rush out through the rest of him, every part of his body tingling in anticipation.  He glanced towards the edge of the roof and his heartrate sped up.  Did he dare try...?

 _Do it.  If it doesn’t work, if I’m not ready yet, I can catch myself with my divinity before I hit the ground.  It’s not that much of a drop anyway,_ Felix cajoled himself.

Heart fluttering in his throat, he approached the edge of the roof with trembling hands.  He firmly kept himself from reaching for the heart-bond to alert Minho and Hyunjin, the action having become instinctive over the past seven years.  He couldn’t bear to feel their hope on top of his own, not until he _knew_.

Pulling his divinity up to ‘til it pressed against the underside of his skin, Felix took a slow breath and arched his wings in preparation.  The distance to the ground was not intimidating but the thought of _not_ having to catch himself, of defying gravity with the power of his wings and reaching for the sky...

 _Just jump_.

So he did.

His body automatically adjusted its position in the air, correcting the angle of his wings which spread wide, wide and –

His divinity redirected itself, infusing his feathers, giving them _life_ –

_Whumph_

The strong flight muscles on Felix’s back engaged and his wings swept _down_ , sending him _up_ –

Chill morning air rushed past him, ruffling his hair and raising goosebumps on his bare chest until his divinity pulsed through his bones and he was warm –

_Whumph_

Pale gold flash in his periphery and Felix was over the lake, deep in the mist, but his vision sharpened as it hadn’t in so long and he could see once more –

_I’m an angel again._

Finally, he believed the words, felt the truth of them in every fibre of his body.

 _I am_ whole _._

Joy.  Utter joy.

Perhaps he wept, perhaps he smiled, it was hard to tell.  Felix could see the powerful glow he was emitting, his divinity as strong as it had ever been, and the sense of completeness was overwhelming.

_Whumph_

He went further up just because he could, up until he rose above the mist blanketing the mountains and beheld the naked sky, dark to the west where stars yet gleamed and pale to the east where dawn gleamed just below the horizon.  Felix wanted to stay here, this perfect vantage where he could see everything – so he did, his wings adjusting to hold him in a hover.  The movement was so smooth it almost felt like he wasn’t in control of it except he was and he could feel every shift of muscle, every tightening tendon and flexing joint.

The heart-bond burst to life and Felix felt his cheeks crease as he was besieged by rolling waves of shock and delight and pride and love from his heart-mates.

 _Come join me,_ he told them, gleeful at being able to say that at long last.

They were with him in seconds, hardly slowing when they reached him and Felix laughed through his tears as they inelegantly crashed into him.  His wings faltered but Minho and Hyunjin had always been there to catch him and now was no different.  Hyunjin was sobbing of course, but he was laughing too, almost as breathless with joy as Felix.  Minho was beaming, the expression radiant upon him, and his bright feline eyes gleamed with unshed tears.

_Well done, little angel.  I’m so proud of you._

_I love you, Felix, I’m so happy for you._

Felix clung to the limbs wrapped around him, so overcome with emotion he almost forgot to keep his wings beating.

 _Thank you,_ he whispered, looking first Minho then Hyunjin in the eye, the words entirely sincere.  _Thank you for taking care of me and loving me.  My heart is yours from now until my last._

The heart-bond pulsed at those words, a repetition of the oath he’d spoken to form the bond.

Minho blinked rapidly and a single tear streaked down his cheek.  _And our hearts are yours, little angel._

 _Show us your wings, Lixie,_ Hyunjin choked out, the wind from three pairs of wings drying his tears as quickly as they fell.  His smile never faltered, even as he sniffed mightily.  _Go on, show us how beautiful and strong you are._

Felix grinned, excitement flooding him more potently than it ever had on the many occasions they’d taken him flying in the past.  He let go of their arms, allowing himself to drop like a stone, wings loose.  As ever, the fall did not scare him, but rather thrilled him.

He did not go far, not having the patience for that, and his wings flared out just before the mist swallowed him.  Powerful wingbeats launched him high, high ‘til he soared beyond them and further still.  Felix spread his arms, head tilted back, like he could embrace the entire sky, and he allowed himself to tip backwards, coming to a sharp (if slightly wobbly) halt level with Minho and Hyunjin.

 _Fly with me!_ he demanded, gleeful as a child, chest heaving with all the unfamiliar exertion.  Still, his divinity was more than enough to sustain him.

There was not a moment of hesitation before the older angels accepted his invitation, praising his skills, teasing and encouraging him as they chased each other through the sky.

None of the angels returned to the ground as the sun crested the horizon and crawled higher, bathing them in warm light.  For all that flying came naturally to angels and Felix was quite capable of moving with grace and precision after less than an hour on the wing, there was plenty for him to relearn and his heart-mates spent the day showing him as much as they could.

The sun disappeared behind the mountains and the shadows returned, stretching long over the world.  It was when the moon, large and round and silver, appeared in the sky that Minho paused, staring up at it.

 _What is it?_ Hyunjin and Felix asked simultaneously, hovering near him.

Another smile curved Minho’s mouth up and he said to Felix, _I forgot, there’s going to be a lunar eclipse today.  A fittingly grand omen to mark the day your becoming is complete, little angel._

Felix glanced up at the moon, currently untouched by shadow.  He agreed – this was an interdimensional good omen.  It would do well as a marker of the end of his time trapped on the mortal plane.

He turned to the others again, dipping a foot or so as his wings fought to hold him steady.  _Let’s go home_ , he said abruptly.

The divine plane might wait forever but he would not.  He was finally strong enough to enter the crossover and there was no reason to delay, nothing tying him to this place any longer.

Up above, the moon took on an edge of red.

 _Thought you’d never ask,_ Hyunjin teased gently, sweeping back his long braid and holding out a hand to Felix.

 _You’ve done everything you need to do?_ Minho checked, taking the gold-winged angel’s other hand.  _You won’t be back for a long time._

 _I know._   Felix interlaced their hands, watched Minho and Hyunjin take each other’s, making a loose triangle, everyone’s wings bumping into everyone else’s.  _I’m ready._

The moon was an even split of bright silver and dark red.

Minho’s eyes began to shine with holy fire.  _Hold on tight then, little angel._

Hyunjin grinned, a pale glow overtaking his own eyes.  _So long, mortal plane, we won’t miss you!_

Felix’s heart pounded in his throat as he felt the immense power the older two were exerting, tugging open a door from this plane to the next.  The uncontrollably turbulent energies of the crossover were drawn closer and closer to the surface of this reality and longing was a piercing flame inside him.

 _Close your eyes,_ Minho whispered.

Ruddy red engulfed the moon.

Felix shut his eyes and smiled as fabric of the mortal plane was torn open for a split second, the three angels immediately sucked into the crossover.

_Time to go home._

 

 

_(High up on a hill not too far away sat a djinn and a human.  They were quiet as they watched the lunar eclipse begin, an edge of dusky red appearing on the silvery face of the moon._

_The djinn’s mouth ticked up in a little smile.  ‘”You will die beneath the light of a red moon, arm in arm with a mortal,”’ he said, quoting the witch who’d first told him those words so very long ago.  He glanced at his companion.  ‘I guess that means your angel has found his wings again, o newly-mortal one.’_

_The human nodded.  ‘I’m glad he’s going home now.  I know he missed it a lot.’_

_‘Mmm...  And where are you going now?’_

_An incredulous scoff, a sharp slap on the back of the head.  ‘With you, obviously.’_

_The djinn looked pained, and not just because a quarter of the moon was now red and he could feel the fire in his heart failing._

_The human snorted and wrapped an arm around him.  ‘Arm in arm with a mortal, remember?  I’m about sick of this plane anyway and I need a damn good sleep.’_

_Huffing out through his nose, the djinn nodded.  ‘Of course.  Even in death you refuse to leave me alone.’_

_‘Oh, that’s rich.  I recall that it was_ you _who wouldn’t leave_ me _alone when you first found out I couldn’t die.  Something about a “robust travelling partner”, wasn’t it?’_

_‘Your memory must be faulty,’ the djinn tutted, but he slipped an arm around the human’s waist._

_Silence fell and up on high, red continued to devour silver.  The last sliver disappeared and the human felt the djinn slump against him, his arm dropping away.  He did not panic, only smiled, small and melancholic, and continued watching the eclipse unfold._

_The red shadow did not stay long and the human felt the heat of his companion’s body rising beneath his touch, preparing to burn up in a final flash of djinn fire.  He was not concerned, however.  There would be enough fire for the two of them._

_As the silver of the moon began to return, a deep exhaustion settled over the human, sinking right into the marrow of his bones.  In an effort to stay upright ‘til the last, he leaned more of his weight against the body of the djinn tucked close to his side._

_At last, he could hold his eyes open no longer._

I will see you soon, friend. _)_

**Author's Note:**

> This took me. So Long. I've been writing it since early April. Heck. And to think, it was meant to be a <5k prompt fic :') H A H
> 
> But thank you to Ella for doing me the honour of asking for not only a story with Felix in it, but also my first poly fic. That was Definitely a challenge, one I can only hope I pulled off alright!
> 
> And gods _bless_ the gatorade and blood discord server for keeping me alive through this, especially Morgan and Theo for practical writing help. Love all you nerds <3


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